Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Warrington

Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 1 SC456800 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose states that it provides care for one child who experiences emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (social and/or emotional difficulties).

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Information about this children’s home

It is part of a large national provider of children’s homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/08/2021 Full Good 26/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 18/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 3

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improvement to be good

Two children live in the home. They have lived in the home for some time.

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improvement to be good

Overall, the home is well maintained. However, some areas of the home require painting, such as the staircase and landing. Additionally, the bathroom requires updating and attention is required to the shower unit to ensure that this does not leak. This detracts from a homely and welcoming feel.

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improvement to be good

Sanctions used are often purely financial and not restorative in nature. This does not help children to understand the consequences of their behaviour or help them to learn how to make positive choices. Furthermore, the manager must ensure that all sanctions are evaluated and add comments made on the effectiveness of any measure used and all records are signed and dated.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they know how to make a complaint and can identify staff in the team who they can talk to. The children are regularly consulted about daily life in the home. However, the registered person should ensure that case records are child friendly and that children are supported to understand and contribute to their records. Additionally, children should be encouraged to keep memorabilia of their time spent living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Education is a priority in the home. The children have made progress in attending school and are doing well. Feedback from professionals is positive.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped to develop their skills towards independence. They are making good progress in this area. They have learned new skills in budgeting, independent travel and cooking. This means that children are well supported as they prepare to move on.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is promoted. Staff are good role models and are encouraging. One child told the inspector, ‘Staff have helped me manage my behaviour loads from when I first came.’

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improvement to be good

The relationships between the children and staff are caring and positive. One child rated the home ‘nine out of 10’. Children engage well in direct work and have had meaningful discussions. The topics include their future, how to keep safe, bereavement and independence.

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improvement to be good

Allegations of abuse are not managed in line with safeguarding procedures. Staff have not always reported these incidents. When a child reported that he had been Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 4 assaulted by a staff member, the manager and staff failed to recognise this as a significant incident. Neither the manager nor the member of staff reported and recorded the incident in line with safeguarding and organisational procedures.

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improvement to be good

Historically, the quality of some risk assessments has been poor. They have been unclear and have not provided staff with guidance on what action they should take to safeguard children. Additionally, it is not clear when these documents were reviewed and if these have been read and signed by all staff working in the home. There has been significant improvement evidenced in this area following the appointment of the current manager.

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improvement to be good

Inspectors found that staff have failed to follow safeguarding policies and procedures. Staff have not demonstrated professional curiosity to the circumstances surrounding an incident. Staff were not suitably trained and did not have the necessary skills to manage the incident. Consequently, staff failed to complete appropriate welfare checks and a room search. As a result, the safety and welfare of a child was compromised. However, when the new manager came into post, she addressed this issue and has put procedures in place to prevent this occurring again.

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improvement to be good

Medication practices in the home are safe. All staff are suitably trained and there are suitable arrangements in place for the storage and administration of medication.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment checks are robust. All new staff are suitably vetted following safer recruitment guidelines prior to starting work in the home. This promotes safe working practices.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand all children’s known risks. They are clear about what action they must take if a child goes missing. There are clear plans in place and the child has an opportunity to take part in an independent return home interview. As a result, the missing-from-home incidents have significantly reduced.

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good

There has been no registered manager in post since October 2021. A permanent manager was appointed but this appointment did not progress to registration with Ofsted. A new manager has now been appointed and she has been at the home for a few weeks. She has recently submitted her application to become registered.

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good

The new manager has quickly identified some of the areas of development in the home. For example, she identified gaps in training and completed workshops and a detailed team meeting to provide staff with knowledge and skills in reporting and recording, self-harm and mental health. As a result, the children are being supported by staff who fully understand their needs.

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good

As a result of the changes in management, there is improved oversight. The manager demonstrates suitable oversight on internal and external monitoring of the home. She has implemented changes to the children’s risk assessments. These are Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 5 now of good quality, regularly reviewed and contain all relevant information. Furthermore, the manager has completed a detailed audit across all the home’s incident management records and identified shortfalls and has put a robust action plan in place to address this moving forward.

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good

There have been some changes in staffing recently. A staff member said that they had recently had an unsettled period and now staff morale is improving. Staff and children are complimentary about the new manager and the changes she has implemented. They say that she is approachable and takes staff’s ideas on board. As a result, staff feel well supported and happier in their roles.

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good

As part of the home’s development, the manager is also committed to staff supervision, training and appraisals. This means that the quality of supervision records has improved, and supervision is now reflective and detailed. This supports staff’s continuing development. Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that: the bathroom and toilet are updated; the shower unit is fixed to address the leaking; the stairs and landing are repainted to give a clean and fresh appearance. 23 September

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; 23 September Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 7 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(viii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(h)) 23 September

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 23 September Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 8 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s records on each child represent significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept in the home and how to access them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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 children’s home: SC456800 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC456800 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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