Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC437305 1 SC437305 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

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide short-, medium- and long-term care for up to eight children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, five children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been open since 2011. 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 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: SC437305 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2022 Full Good 18/02/2020 Full Good 07/01/2019 Full Outstanding 08/02/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC437305 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from positive relationships with committed and experienced staff. Children have their own key worker; however, they have good relationships with all staff. Children who are new to the home are building relationships. This means that children are able to share concerns with adults who they trust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy a wide range of social and recreational activities. This includes attending football matches at the local stadium, sports camps, ice skating, walks around local parks and trampolining. One child asked for a birthday party with their friends, which staff arranged. Staff encourage and support children to have fun and enjoy new experiences. This helps them to build and maintain friendships, develop confidence and improve their social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. They are supported to attend appointments and access medical care when required. The manager has requested individual support for one child to overcome a phobia. This will help to increase the child’s confidence in accessing medical care and maintaining good health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has good links with education providers and all children are attending education. One child is now making progress and has returned to mainstream education from a specialist provision. The child is proud of their achievement in returning to mainstream education. This supports children’s education outcomes and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy. They like living at the home and some children have lived there for many years. The manager and staff have recently supported one child to move on from the home. Good communication with the new home, and the child, ensured that the child had some control and knew where they were moving to. The manager travelled with the child to provide continuity and moral support during the move. This showed the child that the manager was committed to them. It also helped the child to feel less worried, and led to a positive move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moving in to the home are provided with information about the home and meet staff prior to moving in. Children already living in the home are also consulted in advance. The manager considers the potential impact of any new children moving in alongside the needs of the existing children at the home. This supports placement stability for all children and helps to reduce the risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to personalise their bedrooms and keep a good level of cleanliness. Renovation work to the children’s bathrooms has begun, and some progress has been made to make the home more comfortable for children. However, there is still much work to be done to ensure that bathrooms are suitable for children to use. Some parts of the home, including the children’s games room, hallway and stairways, are not well maintained and are unkempt. The ‘chill-out’ and Inspection report for children’s home: SC437305 4 ‘games’ rooms were not very homely or welcoming. This does not support children to live comfortably.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and they all enjoy very good relationships. However, there was a lack of clarity and understanding about one child’s ethnicity, and their records did not accurately reflect this. The manager’s lack of awareness means that there has not been any challenge to the placing authority about correcting this. In addition, a lack of proactive action from the management to address family time for one child has led to their identity not being promoted. This does not support children to develop relationships with people that are important to them or prepare them for moving back into their community.

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

Practice in the home supports children to keep safe. Risk assessments provide staff with clarity about children’s risks and guidance on how to respond to their needs. The detailed records are regularly updated, providing an accurate reflection of children. However, gaps in the manager’s knowledge about some historical incidents do not help to inform risk management and could impact on how staff respond to any future incidents.

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

Staff provide incentives for children to reward positive behaviour. Children have responded well to the rewards and there are very few behavioural incidents. As a result, staff de-escalate challenging behaviour without the need for physical intervention. This helps to promote strong relationships between the children and staff.

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

Missing episodes are infrequent, with four since the last inspection. When children have gone missing, staff respond in line with children’s plans. The actions that staff have taken have been well recorded, including their communication with others. Staff ensure that children have an opportunity to engage in return interviews. Children’s views are captured on their return home, and some of these views have influenced positive change. For example, children now have mobile phones, which staff use to contact them when they are away from home. This helps to provide assurances to staff that children are safe.

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

Recruitment of new staff is in line with safer recruitment practice. Relevant checks are undertaken and there is a robust recruitment process in place. This helps to keep children safe.

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

Children enjoy a home environment with ample living space. However, some internal doors were locked, preventing children from having free access in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and has worked at the home previously as a deputy manager. He is supported by an experienced staff team and, together, they have Inspection report for children’s home: SC437305 5 overcome a difficult period. Staff have felt well supported during this time. This has ensured that the care of children has remained at a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is well established, with many staff having worked at the home for several years. Supervision is regular and reflective. Professional development is supported, and staff report that they are well supported. This means that staff are skilled to do their job.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The induction of new staff is detailed, and progress is reviewed in regular supervision sessions. The supports staff retention and ensures that a consistent quality of care is provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good monitoring in place to review the care provided. The monthly regulation 44 reports are considered, and the manager uses the findings to inform practice. The manager appropriately notifies of any significant incidents. This ensures that the manager and staff work transparently. The manager seeks the input of others to contribute to improving the lives of children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC437305 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

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard of cleanliness throughout. 30 September

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they and the staff have a clear understanding of children’s ethnicity. In doing so, should this be different to written 30 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC437305 7 records, they must challenge the local authority to correct these.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must seek to promote effective family relationships to further meet the identity needs of a child in their care.

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises. (Regulation 21 (b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all living and communal areas at the home are accessible to children at all times. 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should challenge the placing authority to ensure the child’s records accurately reflect the child’s identity. The registered person should seek to explore opportunities for children to further understand their identity through the child’s family. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure children’s relevant plans accurately reflect risks. In particular, for children who have a history of self-harm, the manager should understand and explore the detail of the risks to inform the risk management within the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 41, paragraph 9.1)

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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: SC437305 8

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Susan Fitzsimmons

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Inspectors

Sadie Mulkeen, Social Care Inspector Parveen Hussain, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC437305 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 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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