Foundations Strathmore

Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 1 Foundations Strathmore Progressive Care Limited 39 Sandygate, Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S63 7LN Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This service is privately run, and is registered to provide parenting assessments for up to seven families.

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Information about this residential family centre

This is the first full inspection since the service registered with Ofsted in September 2021.

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Information about this residential family centre

The registered manager has recently resigned from her post, and an experienced and qualified interim manager is currently overseeing the service until a permanent manager is recruited.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: not applicable

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Children and parents benefit greatly from the support and welcome that they receive from the moment they arrive at the home. Staff explain in a sensitive and non- judgemental way the assessment process. Parents say that they receive clear information about the expectations and boundaries of the assessment to be undertaken. This helps to ensure that parents understand the process and know what to expect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Important positive relationships are forged between parents, children and staff. Parents told the inspectors that they feel ‘comfortable’ and ‘safe’, and say that ‘staff are approachable’. The trusting relationships built assist the assessment process to smoothly take place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents confirm that they are consulted and kept informed throughout their assessment. They receive feedback after staff observations, key work discussions and social work sessions. This ensures that parents are kept up to date and are aware of the progress made and/or any further development areas they need to focus on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The parenting assessment report is evidence based, fair and evaluative, with a focus on the well-being and safety of the child. Assessments detail the parent’s ability to put the child’s needs first. This includes meeting the essential day-to-day needs of the child, setting routines, emotional warmth and child development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Prompt action is taken to register children and parents with local health services. These include the doctor, optician, midwife, health visitors and dental services. This makes sure that children and parents’ immerging health needs can be met and monitored when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The home is decorated, furnished and equipped to a high standard internally and externally. A parent said, ‘The house has everything we need, and its comfy’. The atmosphere in the home is calm and relaxed. Older children and parents enjoy the garden and play equipment. This supports and allows parents to concentrate on the assessment process, without any added concerns about the living conditions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The service has established several weekly organised activities for parents and children. Parents said that they enjoyed ‘tummy time’, pamper nights and movie nights. There is also a Saturday breakfast club and a Sunday lunch group. There are visits to the local park, and there was an organised celebration for the Queen’s Jubilee. The interim manager is currently working with the staff to increase access to more community groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Complaints are taken seriously. Parents are made aware of the complaints procedure at the commencement of their assessment. The complaints made have been investigated and action taken to address shortfalls when found. The deficit and follow-up work Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 3 identified in one complaint has not been vigorously actioned. However, this has been detected by the interim manager, and the matter is now being thoroughly addressed.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff are clear that their role is to keep children safe from harm. They are trained and can demonstrate their understanding of the action to take if there are any concerns about the safety of a child. Immediate action has been taken, including medical assessments when there has been any concern about the care, health and well-being of a child.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The service undertakes and records the identified risks for each family admitted to the service for a parenting assessment. These are reviewed regularly. All referral and historical information and risk assessments are read by the staff team at the point of admission. This assists in making sure that the staff are aware of all potential risks for children and parents. The risk assessments and placement plans set out the support, monitoring and safety strategies to keep each child and parent safe.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children and parents’ safety is maintained through frequent and routine monitoring by the staff. This is achieved through direct observations of parents providing care to their child, going out into the community initially with the support of the staff, and the use of closed-circuit television. The parents’ understanding of the care and safety of their children is explored in key and social work sessions. The support and monitoring of children and parents are frequently reviewed. Where parents demonstrate that their children are being cared for safely, the frequency of monitoring is reduced in conjunction with agreement of other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is no registered manager in post. An interim manager has been appointed and recruitment is underway to appoint a permanent manager. Changes in management have had an impact on some aspects of development and continuous oversight of this setting.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time. The setting has had outbreaks of the virus, and this impacted on staffing. In addition, the registered manager was absent for a period of more than 28 days and Ofsted was not informed in line with the regulations. This means that management oversight of certain aspects of the service has not been robust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The service has a range of internal and external monitoring systems. There is a thorough review and quality assurance process for all parenting assessments and final assessment reports. However, not all other internal monitoring areas have been consistently and effectively applied, with some shortfalls being identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager’s monitoring of the environment is not robust. The inspectors found that the manager has not identified the need for safety equipment, such as catches on kitchen cupboards. This potentially poses a risk to children. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 4 The manager’s audit of medication has not identified shortfalls in the recording of medicines. For example, in one case, the reasons for the non-administration of medication was not clearly recorded. This could be confusing to staff and parents, and does not demonstrate good enough monitoring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Where deficits are detected by the independent visitor, not all of these have been addressed in a timely manner. The interim manager has since addressed these recommendations. However, this demonstrates that the leadership and management of the service has not been consistently effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Overall, safer recruitment practices are implemented, with all staff employed having a Disclosure and Barring Service check undertaken. Other checks and references are requested in line with the requirements of the regulations. However, shortfalls have been found. The validity and information in two references, an employment history and identification anomaly have not been fully explored. Therefore, this could potentially compromise the safety of employees to work with children and vulnerable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Placing social workers and other professionals confirm that they are kept up to date on all relevant information. Positive partnership working exists. Weekly reports, telephone calls and emails support the effective communication on the progress of each family and parenting assessment. However, midwives and health visitors express the need to improve collaborative working further to particularly support parents feeding babies in line with the current National Health Service guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a core established staff team which provides consistent support and guidance to children and parents. The majority of staff hold a level 3 qualification or an equivalent in caring for children. Staff have undertaken other suitable training, commencing with an induction and the completion of mandatory training. This includes safeguarding, first aid, health and safety, and medication training. In addition, staff receive more specialist training, for example child development, domestic violence and drug awareness. This equips the staff well to meet the needs of the children and parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Minimum staffing levels and above are maintained to meet the needs of the children and parents. There is ongoing recruitment, with two new staff imminently about to join the team. The interim manager and deputy manager support the staff when there are staff absences through sickness or annual leave. However, staff routinely work long shifts, such as working a double shift and then sleeping in. This has the potential to put pressure on the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Improvements have been made to ensure that all staff receive formal monthly supervision. Staff say that they work well as a team and now receive good support. The staff present as caring and committed to carrying out their work, to keep children and parents safe. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Employ a person to work at the residential family centre unless that person is fit to work at a residential family centre; or

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Requirement Due date

allow a person to whom paragraph (2) applies, to work at the residential family centre unless that person is fit to work at a residential family centre.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1), a person is not fit to work at a residential family centre unless—

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Requirement Due date

and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to him in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2

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Requirement Due date

In particular, references are from the last and other employers and directly link to employment history. Any anomalies are clarified, documents- demonstrate that all name changes are tracked to verify fully the individual’s identity. (Regulation 16 (1)(a)(b)(3)(d)) 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall make arrangements for the recording, handling, safe keeping, safe administration, and disposal of medicines received into the residential family centre.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that reasons for the non-administration of a prescribed medicine is recorded or after a period of not being taken is reviewed by a medical professional (Regulation 11(2)) 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

the registered manager, proposes to be absent from the residential family centre for a continuous period of 28 days 28 August 2022 Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 6 or more, the registered person shall give notice in writing to the Commission of the proposed absence.

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Requirement Due date

Except in the case of an emergency, the notice referred to in paragraph (1) shall be given at least 28 days before the proposed absence is to start, or within such shorter period as may be agreed with the Commission, and the notice shall specify—

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Requirement Due date

the length or expected length of the proposed absence. the reason for the proposed absence.

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Requirement Due date

the arrangements which have been made for the running of the residential family

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Requirement Due date

centre during that absence. the name, address and qualifications of the person who will be responsible for the residential family centre during the absence; and

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Requirement Due date

in the case of the absence of the registered manager, the arrangements that have been, or are proposed to be, made for appointing another person to manage the residential family centre during that absence, including the proposed date by which the appointment is to be made.

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Requirement Due date

Where the absence arises as a result of an emergency, the registered person shall give notice of the absence within one week of its occurrence specifying the matters in sub- paragraphs (a) to (e) of paragraph (2). (Regulation 27(1) (b) (2) (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(3))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider and the registered manager shall, having regard to the size of the residential family centre, the statement of purpose, and the number and needs of the residents, carry on or manage the centre (as the case may be) with sufficient care, competence, and skill.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that internal monitoring of the environment and records is thorough and robust. Swift action must be taken to address deficits identified by the regulation 25 visitor. (Regulation 8 (1)) 28 August 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff work effectively in partnership with other agencies concerned with child and adult protection, including the Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 7 responsible authority, schools, hospitals, and general practitioners. In particular, build further the working relationship with midwifes and health visitors and agree the advice on feeding approaches for babies. (Residential Family Centre National Minimum Standards5.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the overall number, competence, and deployment of staff, both as a staff group and on individual shifts, can fulfil the centre's statement of purpose and meet the individual needs of all the parents and children resident at the centre. The staffing compliment should be increased and the rota kept under review to ensure it can meet the needs for children and parents consistently. (Residential Family Centre National Minimum Standards 15.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there are clear and effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the centre. (Residential Family Centre National Minimum Standards 19.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the manager regularly monitors, in line with the Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002, as amended, all records kept by the centre to ensure compliance with the centre's policies, to identify any concerns about specific incidents and to identify patterns and trends. Immediate action is taken to address any issues raised by this monitoring. (Residential Family Centre National Minimum Standards 19.2)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 8

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Progressive Care Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 51 Attercliffe Common, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S9 2AE

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Residential family centre details

Email address: info@progressivecare.co.uk

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Inspectors

Mrs Debbie Foster, Social Care Inspector Jenny Fenlon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Strathmore 9 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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