Children's Home run by Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2608968 1 Registered provider: Northamptonshire Childrens Trust Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home was operated for several years by the local authority, but in 2020 re- registered as part of a new children’s trust. The home provides care for up to six children who are currently unable to live with their family.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has overseen the home for over 10 years. He is suitably qualified.

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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

Date of last inspection: 20 October 2021

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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: 2608968 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2608968 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they are happy and like living at this home. They like the staff who care for them and are relaxed in their company. Staff have positive relationships with the children and the children respond well to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children currently living in the home have lived here for some time, and have made significant progress in their health, self-confidence, social skills and independence skills. One child has been on an apprenticeship for over a year. He is rightly proud of the work he does and is proud of earning his own money. This is a huge achievement for the child, and he is looking positively towards his future. Another child has improved his health by losing weight and undertaking more exercise. He has become more confident and has a friendship group. He attends school regularly. A year ago, this child’s situation was very different.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a range of healthcare professionals and agencies who support them with their mental health and any substance or alcohol misuse. Staff follow clear, multi-agency strategies to support children to make good progress. For example, staff work closely with children’s mental health services to support children who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have home-cooked meals prepared by the chef, and they often help in preparing meals. Children enjoy shopping and planning and preparing meals with the chef. Staff devise a recipe book for each child based on the food they have cooked. Children take this recipe book away with them when they move on to live more independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Medication is well organised and safely stored. Staff have a good understanding of medication procedures, and these are followed. However, one child is refusing to take her medication as prescribed. Staff have not discussed this with the prescribing doctor, or children’s mental health services, who are closely involved with the child. Healthcare professionals should be informed when a child is not taking their medication to ensure that they are fully appraised of the situation, so that plans and decisions are properly informed. An appointment to see a doctor was immediately arranged during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are considered and acted on. Children know how to make complaints if they are unhappy, and previous complaints have been acted on quickly to the satisfaction of the complainant.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities in the home and in the local and wider community. They enjoyed a pamper evening during the inspection and staff were fully immersed in the experience. Children have friendship groups outside the home and spend time with them. They also spend time with staff, going on trips to local theme parks, trampoline parks and go-karting, among other activities. Staff have Inspection report for children’s home: 2608968 4 recently celebrated children’s birthdays with them, and children have enjoyed a visit to a fright night event for Halloween.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is clean, tidy and homely. The home has been redecorated throughout and the kitchen has been refurbished to a good standard. Children’s bedrooms are highly personalised.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the home’s child-protection procedures. They know how to keep children safe and talk to children regularly about keeping themselves safe.

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

The children who currently live in this home rarely go missing. Staff encourage children not to leave the home without agreement and they will follow them until they go out of sight. They follow sensible procedures and children return home safely.

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

Most of the children do not use illegal substances, smoke or drink alcohol. Children who do struggle with substance misuse receive good support from staff and outside agencies. Staff are well trained in this area, which enables them to intervene early.

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

Children are managing their emotions and behaviour well and the need for physical intervention is rare. When staff do use physical intervention, this is as a last resort, to ensure the safety of the child or others. The registered manager has good oversight of the physical intervention records, ensuring that records are clear and accurate.

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

Staff closely monitor children’s access to the internet. They talk to the children about staying safe while online, especially when using social media. This helps children access the internet safely.

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good

Concerns about staff practice are investigated well. However, any resulting action has not been formalised or implemented robustly. This means that staff whose conduct has fallen short of expectations may not be monitored as well as they should be. Furthermore, learning from staff practice or from concerns is not shared with the team.

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good

A record of a key-work session and a negative consequence does not demonstrate good childcare practice. It is unclear whether this is a recording issue or whether staff practice was not child-centred. The registered manager has not challenged staff about the accuracy of this record, so he does not have a good understanding of what actually occurred. There is a lack of robust oversight of recording by staff. The registered manager discussed the concerns with staff, following identification of this issue at the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608968 5 The registered manager is very experienced and appropriately qualified. He is ably supported by the assistant manager. Together, they provide good support to staff, although management oversight has been lacking on occasion. Staff said that they feel very well supported by the management team and each other.

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good

There is an established team of staff who are very experienced. Staff retention is very good, which means that children receive consistent care from familiar people. Staff have access to a good-quality training programme. However, staff would benefit from more in-depth training regarding children’s mental health, particularly in relation to anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. This is to ensure that they have a good understanding of the emotional health and well-being needs of the children in their care.

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good

External professionals are complimentary about the care children receive and the communication from staff. Children receive a coordinated approach to their care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2608968 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 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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff receiving training in mental health, specifically around managing children’s anxiety, self- harm and suicidal thoughts. 31 December

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 31 December Inspection report for children’s home: 2608968 7 This particularly refers to ensuring that poor staff performance is addressed using a robust, formal approach that is properly implemented.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that monitoring systems are robust and poor practice is appropriately challenged. 31 December

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that, when the home has concerns about a child’s medication, such as that they are refusing the prescribed medication on a regular basis, they approach an expert such as the general medical practitioner who prescribed the medication or the child’s psychologist. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: 2608968 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northamptonshire Childrens Trust Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: One Angel Square, Angel Street, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN1 1ED

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Inspector

Joanne Vyas, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2608968 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 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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