Children's home run by Total Care Matters Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 1 SC414296 Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by an independent provider. It is registered with Ofsted to provide care for up to four children. These children may require support to manage their emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a suitably experienced registered manager.

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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

Date of last inspection: 19 October 2021

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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: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/10/2021 Full Good 13/01/2020 Full Outstanding 25/07/2018 Full Good 22/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 3

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improvement to be good

Children have good daily routines in place. Staff are good at motivating children to wake up for education, and they ask children what they have learned when they come home. It is a big achievement that all children are attending education because, prior to moving into the home, some children had been out of education for some time. Children’s hobbies are encouraged by staff. For example, two children play musical instruments and have these in their bedrooms. It is positive that some children also have part-time jobs.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported by staff to attend health appointments and to recognise why these are important. One child was helped by staff to get medical treatment after they developed a dental issue.

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improvement to be good

Some children have formed friendships in the home. However, household dynamics remain strained following a serious incident where a child was hurt. Following this incident, the manager did not speak to all children about how they felt. Children were not asked for their ideas as to how relationships between children could be repaired. This consultation is necessary to assess the likelihood of any future incidents happening again in the home.

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improvement to be good

There is not a consistent approach in place to recognise, record and respond to children’s complaints and concerns. For example, where one child raised concerns about family time, the details of this discussion were not recorded appropriately, and therefore it is unclear exactly what the child said.

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improvement to be good

Where children raise concerns about their safety in the home, these concerns are not yet being effectively acted on or recorded in a timely manner. For example, one child told the manager that not all staff were consistently challenging another child’s behaviour. As a result, the child was not confident in the staff’s ability to keep him safe. Despite the child raising their concern 10 days prior to the inspection, no staff had been spoken to by a manager about this.

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improvement to be good

Although children’s bedrooms are well decorated, measures are not yet in place to ensure that children’s bedrooms are safe. For example, on one occasion manager found that a child had been smoking in their bedroom. There is no record of this incident, despite this being a significant fire risk. Furthermore, the child has not been given clarity as to whether they are allowed to keep smoking paraphernalia in their bedroom or not. This child’s bedroom has smelled of smoke on more than one occasion. However, there is no evidence of steps being taken to address this issue. Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 4 Where children have needed their bedroom to be searched for their own safety, there is no evaluation on the room search log. It is unclear if any steps are being taken to reduce risks for children following the removal of items. There have been certain items found in children’s bedrooms that were indicators of potential risk.

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improvement to be good

There is no recording of these items having been found, and it remains unclear where these items have now gone. Care practice relating to room searches is a significant shortfall.

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improvement to be good

Where a child reported personal items having gone missing to staff, there is no record of this conversation having taken place, and no action has been taken to support the child. Staff did not show professional curiosity as to where these items could have gone.

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improvement to be good

Despite shortfalls, children’s risk-taking behaviours have been significantly reduced since being cared for in the home. Children like staff, and they trust them with their feelings. Children answer their phones when out in the community, and they tell staff if they feel unsafe.

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good

Children like the manager. They describe her as ‘firm but fair’, and when consequences are put in place, they understand the rationale for this. The manager does regularly spend time with children, and she is thoughtful in the activities that she plans for them.

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good

The manager recognises that staff need more support to better understand what the duties of their role entail. For instance, staff are not yet consistently able to recognise and respond to risk. Furthermore, the manager is not yet taking effective action when risks for children are not managed appropriately by staff. For example, a child was allowed to keep a laptop that they found on a bus. Although this posed a significant risk, the manager did not challenge staff about this practice until over one month later, when the laptop was removed. When the manager does speak to staff about performance issues in between formal supervision sessions, these discussions are not recorded.

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good

Not all incidents involving children have been recorded and shared appropriately with other agencies by the manager. For example, where a child made a significant new disclosure, this was not reported to Ofsted, and the details were not recorded as a significant incident. Furthermore, where a child had allegedly harmed another person in the community, this was not reported appropriately. There is not yet good evidence that the manager reflects on past incidents or learns from mistakes.

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good

Where whistle-blowing concerns have been raised in the organisation, processes have been put in place to address them. However, these whistle-blowing concerns have not been passed on to Ofsted. This does not allow for effective collaborative working. Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings; and

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children’s wishes not always being sought, recorded or acted on. 3 January 2023

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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 that staff —

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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 3 January 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 6 necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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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;

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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;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to risks for children not consistently being recognised, recorded or acted on.

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Requirement Due date

This is also in relation to the need for the registered person to adequately learn from incidents or reflect on what could have been done differently.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; 3 January 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 7 ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(a)(b)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person needing to implement, monitor and evaluate current child protection and care planning processes for children and to make sure that staff understand their role in that.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to the registered person effectively recognising, recording and responding to children’s concerns and complaints.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that staff have a consistent approach when managing each child’s behaviour, and where staff may be at risk of being targeted by a child, measures should be put in place to protect both children and staff.

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Requirement Due date

This is also in relation to the lack of records showing that staff are provided with support or guidance outside of supervision.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

is instigated; or 3 January 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 8 concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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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: SC414296 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 230 Bathley Street, The Meadows, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG2 2ER

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Inspector

Andi Lilley-Tams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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