Children's home run by Bristol City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 1 Registered provider: Bristol City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home can provide care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties, and who may also have learning difficulties. The home is owned by the local authority, which has several other homes in the local area. There is currently one child living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 11 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child views this as her home and likes living here. Photographs of the child and her artwork are proudly displayed around the home, giving this a homely family style atmosphere. Staff support the child to pursue her interests, which include singing, dancing and anime. The child thoroughly enjoyed attending a Comicon and has plans in place to attend another one during the summer.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is making progress. Their attendance and engagement in education have improved, and there has been a reduction in missing-from-care and behavioural incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the home is furnished to a good, comfortable standard. However, the child is not having enough consistent support to maintain a clutter free bedroom. At the time of the inspection, the child’s bedroom had clothing, toys and books strewn around the room and dirty clothing on the floor. This does not help the child to learn skills for adulthood. This was addressed during the inspection when raised by the inspector.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child said that she likes the staff who care for her, especially the manager and her keyworker. Interactions between the staff and child are positive and caring. There is also a lot of fun and laughter in the home, with the child and staff enjoying regular opportunities to dance together to online videos and perform karaoke.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Daily records are well written and provide a good picture of the child’s life at the home. Plans include the child’s views and aims, and targets set are achievable. However, the care plan lacks specific information on arrangements for the child to see or speak with her siblings. In addition, plans are cumbersome and contain information about actions that have been superseded in subsequent reviews. This could lead to a lack of clarity in the guidance for staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have created a lovely memory book for the child. This is full of photos and positive comments from staff, and it provides a good record of the child’s time at the home. For the child’s birthday, staff created a positive message book identifying all the child’s achievements since living in the home, including details of the coffee morning she ran for Macmillan Cancer Support and the help she has provided to older members of the neighbourhood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s social worker is very positive about the manager and the staff. They feel the team has demonstrated a strong commitment to the child during some difficult times and that they have worked very effectively together to gain the best outcomes for the child. The child’s advocate supported this view. Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 4

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child feels safe at the home. Safeguarding events are managed effectively. Records of these events and safeguarding plans are comprehensive. Well trained staff work well with external professionals to protect the child.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Behaviour and risk are managed effectively. Staff understand the vulnerabilities for the child. They work in partnership with other professionals and the child’s family, and together have taken action to mitigate risks. As a result, behavioural incidents and risk levels have reduced, and the child has been kept safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When the child has gone missing, staff take appropriate and swift action to safeguard her and return her to the home. Staff search for the child, maintain contact with her, and liaise with the police and the child’s family as necessary.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Behaviour support plans are current and provide clear guidance for staff to help the child when she is feeling anxious or unhappy. Restraint used is typically low level and as a last resort to keep the child safe. Records of incidents and the use of restraints are comprehensive. They provide a clear picture of the event from start to finish. However, where the registered manager has been involved in a restraint, he has also undertaken the post-incident conversations with the child and staff. This limits the opportunity to obtain an independent view.

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good

The manager is appropriately qualified and experienced for their role. Leaders and managers have an understanding of the strengths and some of the development needs of this service. However, they have not identified all the areas for improvement found at this inspection.

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good

Some of the child’s plans require improvement as they do not consistently provide clear and easily accessible guidance for staff about current information. In part, this is due to the length of these documents and could reduce their effectiveness as a working tool for staff to follow.

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good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that there is regular review of the ongoing use of plastic plates, bowls, utensils and drinking vessels in the home. It is therefore not clear what the current rationale is for these items and, if so, what actions staff are to take to find alternative, more homely, approaches.

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good

The home has been through a challenging period, which led to an increase in staffing in order to keep the child safe. Staff praised the manager for his support, guidance and looking after their well-being during this time. Records of staff supervision are of a good quality and reflect this approach. Supervision provides staff with an opportunity to reflect on and develop their practice. The team meetings follow this approach, with the addition of support and input from the local Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 5 authority’s therapist. Information from staff meetings and supervision sessions is used effectively in order to develop the individual staff member and devise training schedules linked closely to the needs of the child.

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good

The independent person visits and reports require improvement. They do not consistently gather feedback from children and parents as required. In addition, the duration of the visit is not consistently recorded.

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good

A review of the quality of care is carried out by the manager every six months. However, the report completed following this review does not contain a clear action plan to aid in the development of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 6

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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, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure

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Requirement Due date

that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) In particular, the registered person is to review and assess the continued use of plastic plates, bowls, utensils and drinking vessels and develop a strategy and plan to move away from this practice. 19 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person is to ensure that the children’s plans contain current information which is clearly recorded and easily accessible. 19 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and 19 September 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 7 The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

Children are effectively safeguarded; and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that appropriate routines are established for the cleaning and tidying of children’s rooms. This includes staff supporting children to develop self-care skills in this area. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that when they have been involved in restraining a child, the meaningful conversations with the child and the staff involved are carried out by someone not involved in the restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that the six-monthly report on the quality of care includes a clear action plan to support the home development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bristol City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Hall, College Green, Bristol, Bristol BS1 5TR

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2567722 9 regulates and inspects 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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