Children's Home run by Birtenshaw in Bolton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC470797 1 SC470797 Registered provider: Birtenshaw Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children may have autism spectrum disorder, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and/or sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC470797 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/10/2021 Full Good 12/02/2020 Full Good 14/11/2018 Full Good 04/09/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC470797 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children progress well in terms of their ability to communicate their needs. Children’s behaviour has become calmer and their sleep patterns have become more settled. A social worker said, as a result of living in this home, ‘[Name of child] has really grown in confidence.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a stable core staff team. The manager uses agency staff regularly but ensures that there is always a group of core staff on duty at the same time. Staff know the children well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend school every day. Staff work with school staff and share information about the children. This enables them to provide the children with consistent care and helps children to feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see their families. This support has enabled the children to maintain family relationships. This is important for children as it helps them retain a sense of identity and belonging. Parents are satisfied with the care that their children are given. Children benefit from seeing their family members very regularly. A parent said, ‘We receive daily updates and communication is great. [Name of child] is very happy.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have weekly meetings. Staff are creative in how they communicate with children to ensure that they can choose what they play with, where they go out on activities and what food they eat.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a large garden, however, there are no toys or play equipment in the garden for children. This is a missed opportunity to use a good resource, particularly in the summer months.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are increasing in confidence and building their independence skills. However, they do not have clear independence programmes which would measure their progress better. This would support them to understand their next steps as they prepare for adulthood.

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

Children are kept safe, and there are clear risk assessments for each child. These assessments are subject to formal review twice a year. If a new potential risk emerges, it is analysed and added to the risk assessment. There is a system in place to ensure that all staff are kept informed of any changes to the children’s risks and records.

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

There have been a low number of physical restraints since the last inspection. These have been appropriate and recorded in detail. The manager has analysed each of Inspection report for children’s home: SC470797 4 these incidents and ensured that there is learning from each one. Staff understand children’s behaviours and their triggers.

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

The home has effective links with social workers, local authority designated officers and other safeguarding agencies. Social workers are pleased with the communication they have with the home.

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

Safer recruitment practices are in place. Staff are carefully vetted to ensure that there are no known risks that would indicate they are not safe to work with children. Staff are offered training to help them understand and identify safeguarding issues and procedures.

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

Staff support children’s health needs. They take children to the necessary health appointments. All the permanent staff are trained in first aid. Medication records are kept. However, on occasions, there have been errors in the recording of medication, which requires better oversight.

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good

The registered manager was not at work at the time of the inspection, and the inspection was supported by the deputy manager and the assistant director. The deputy manager knows the children very well and has high ambitions for them.

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good

Staff do not have regular supervision of their practice. One staff member had only met with their manager formally twice in a five-month period. This means that staff do not have the opportunity to reflect on their work with the children, which may lead to them feeling unsupported. Failing to have clear oversight of staff’s practice and performance through supervision is an ongoing issue in this home.

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good

Staff benefit from a clear training programme to ensure that they are informed about how to meet the needs of the children in their care. Children benefit from being looked after by adults who understand how to meet their needs.

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good

The home is supported by a regular visit by an independent visitor who prepares a report about the home. However, actions in the report are frequently repeated, as a result of the home’s failure to address concerns when they are raised.

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good

The manager ensures that children’s care plans are up to date and appropriate for each child. This ensures that children’s progress is understood and supported. Inspection report for children’s home: SC470797 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, 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 5 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them;

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (2) (a)(b)(c)) 5 September 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any child due to leave the home is helped and supported to develop their independence skills, and has a detailed and appropriate transition plan to help them prepare both emotionally and practically for leaving the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 11.9, page 15) Inspection report for children’s home: SC470797 6  The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is homely and child- focused and that children have appropriate play equipment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 3.9, page 15)

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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: SC470797 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Birtenshaw, Darwen Road, Bromley Cross, Bolton BL7 9AB

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Inspector

Cathy Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC470797 8 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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