Children's Home run by Appletree Treatment Centre Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC386003 1 SC386003 Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private organisation that also runs an independent school for children living at the home. The home provides care for up to five children between the ages of six and 12 years. The home’s statement of purpose states that it offers care to children who may have emotional, social or mental health difficulties and associated or specific learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced and has led the home since April 2019.

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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: SC386003 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/05/2021 Full Good 09/07/2019 Full Good 12/09/2018 Full Good 04/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC386003 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled in this home. They are making good progress. They enjoy spending time with each other, as well as staff. Children were observed to have positive and trusting relationships with staff. Interactions between staff and children were warm and nurturing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home have experienced childhood trauma. Therapists carry out work with children using creative mediums such as art, drama, play and music. Children fully engage with therapy and are committed to attending weekly sessions. This helps support their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have excellent school attendance. School staff communicate effectively with the home. This includes informing staff about children’s day at school and any difficulties they may have experienced. This helps staff to provide children with the emotional support they need after school. This provides consistent and joined-up care for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children have experienced positive moves out of the home. Two have returned home to their families and one has moved to a foster family. These transitions have been carefully planned and undertaken at the child’s pace. Effective partnership work between the home, families and professionals has been instrumental in supporting these moves to be successful. One social worker praised the home, saying, ‘None of this would have been possible if it hadn’t been for the amazing love, care and support that you and your team gave this little boy.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy holidays which broaden their life experiences. They are also provided with opportunities to engage in a range of regular activities. This helps children build social skills and self-esteem.

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

Children feel safe and protected. They have built trusting relationships with staff, which supports them to talk about any worries that they may have. Staff work with the children’s therapists so that children can be supported to manage their behaviours and learn how to regulate their emotions.

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

Risk assessments are inconsistent and confusing. Risks are not accurately recorded and updated. Behaviour management plans do not have clear strategies for staff to follow to reduce risks of harm to children. This impacts on staff’s understanding of how to keep children safe.

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

The home has clear boundaries and routines in place to help children understand acceptable behaviours. This provides children with safe and predictable care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC386003 4 Praise is used regularly to promote positive behaviour. Staff support children to reflect on behaviour rather than using negative consequences.

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

Safer recruitment processes ensure that all staff are appropriately checked before coming to work in the home. This helps to ensure that the home is a safe place for children to live. Children’s safety is further supported by effective health and safety practices.

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

Medication records show that staff understand how to administer, check and record medication safely.

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good

The registered manager has been in post since 2019. Until recently he has had a stable staff team, with some staff having worked in the home for over 20 years. However, some core team members have recently left the home. While this has had an impact on continuity of care, the manager has ensured that the children have been supported through these changes by carrying out direct work with them.

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good

There are shortfalls in the manager’s monitoring and reviewing of the home which affect the quality of care provided to the children. The manager has not accurately recorded, updated and reviewed children’s risk assessments so that they adequately identify children’s risks. Furthermore, while physical interventions are recorded, records do not always include the children’s views about the intervention and measures used. This limits the manager’s ability to review incidents and identify potential learning, to improve practice in the home.

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good

The manager has limited oversight and scrutiny of the supervisions carried out by other staff. Some supervision records were not available for inspectors to view. This impacts on the manager’s understanding of staff’s needs, to support their learning and development. Furthermore, when an incident occurred between two staff members, there was no evidence of how issues had been dealt with or any record of outcomes.

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good

The manager works well with external stakeholders, which is evidenced by positive feedback from social workers and other professionals. Managers are good advocates for children in their care and they challenge and escalate concerns to external professionals when this is needed.

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good

The requirement and recommendations made at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC386003 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 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that risk assessments accurately record risk, are consistent and have clear strategies to reduce the risk of harm to a child. 4 November 2022

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; 4 November 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC386003 6 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, review and improve paperwork and systems for risk assessments and physical intervention records, so they are compliant with regulations. The manager must also improve monitoring and review of the home, to have full oversight of staff practices and record-keeping and to identify any lessons learned.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 4 November 2022

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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: SC386003 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meathop Park, Meathop, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6RF

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Inspectors

Nicola Clements, Social Care Inspector Nichola Croft, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC386003 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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