Children's home run by Progress Care and Education Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC044224 1 SC044224

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Registered provider: Progress Care and Education Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to four disabled children. It is operated by a private organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager at this home. The interim manager has submitted his application to become registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were two children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection date: 27 and 28 September 2022

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC044224 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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The care of children

The two children currently living at this home are settled and making good progress. They attend school every day and have regular contact with their families.

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The care of children

Children are cared for by staff who understand them well and have built positive relationships with them. One parent said, ‘Staff are fantastic with [child’s name]. They are a good team and they know him well.’ However, there has been an unsettled period when high staff turnover led to a reliance on agency staff to fill gaps in the staff roster. The manager understands the impact this has for children and he took steps to ensure that children were supported by adults who were familiar to them.

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The care of children

Staff have struggled to manage the complex needs of one child and this child has moved on from living in the home. Since then, the provider has taken the decision that no other children will live in the home. This means that there are sufficient staff to care for the children living in the home and the dependency on agency staffing is reduced.

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The care of children

Children’s care plans describe children’s individual needs in detail. The plans contain clear guidance for staff about how they should respond to children’s needs. Furthermore, the manager has developed guidance to help staff respond to children’s self-injurious behaviours. This promotes a consistent understanding and approach from the staff team.

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The safety of children

Children living at this home receive a high level of supervision and support. This helps to ensure children’s safety and well-being.

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The safety of children

Careful planning means that children can enjoy community-based activities safely. High staff ratios mean that children can pursue their separate interests in the evenings and weekends.

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The safety of children

Permanent members of staff receive bespoke training about children’s individual behaviours and their methods of communicating. This prepares staff to respond appropriately to children’s needs. All staff have received training in the behaviour management model used by the provider.

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The safety of children

There have been two errors with the administration of medication to children since the last inspection. The provider is taking sufficient action to understand what has happened and has taken steps to minimise the risk of reoccurrence. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC044224 3

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is currently no registered manager at this home. A manager is in post and he has submitted his application to become registered with Ofsted. One parent said, ‘The manager is great. He goes the extra mile for [child’s name].’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager’s capacity to complete some management tasks has been compromised by staff shortages. This is because he has been required to work directly with children and cover gaps in the staff roster. Another experienced manager from within the organisation has been identified to support him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There are shortfalls in the quality of some records. For example, staff rosters do not consistently detail the full name of each member of staff and the hours that they worked. In addition, some records of staff handovers are not dated and the names of the staff present do not correlate with the staff roster. A requirement has been made to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The high turnover of staff since the last inspection means that children have not always benefited from continuity of care. The manager has tried to minimise the impact of this on children. Furthermore, dependency on agency staff is reducing and children currently living at the home are supported by staff who know them well. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC044224 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/03/2022 Full Inadequate 26/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC044224 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 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)(h)) 4 November 2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that staff rosters record the full name of the person working in the home and the actual hours worked. 4 November 2022 Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC044224 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Progress Care and Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC044224 7 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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Inspector

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