Children's Home run by Madiba Limited in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 1 Registered provider: Madiba 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 was registered in July 2022 to provide care for up to four children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home at short notice in December 2022. A new manager has been appointed but is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, and since the home has been operational, only one child has lived at the home. Leaders and managers decided not to match any other children, which is in the child’s best interest.

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improvement to be good

Significant changes due to several staff leaving in a short time period, including the registered manager, have affected the consistency of the child’s care, relationships and emotional well-being. The child is making progress and their relationships with new staff are improving.

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improvement to be good

Staff help the child to choose and prepare healthy, balanced meals and take regular exercise. They support the child to attend their medical appointments, which promotes their physical, emotional and mental well-being. Medication errors are being addressed with the staff, but leaders and managers have failed to check that remedial action has been taken to prevent further incidents.

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improvement to be good

The redecoration of the premises provides a brighter environment that has been adapted to meet the child’s needs. The child’s bedroom is suitably personalised. Damage caused to the home is repaired quickly. Maintenance issues, such as the absence of hot water in the bathroom and the unsecured access from the bathroom ceiling, had not been identified and it was not known how long they had been left undetected. They were fixed at the time of the inspection. A faulty doorbell on the gates led to one professional not gaining entry to the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the child’s needs and support the child with routines and boundaries. The child’s wishes and feelings are listened to and responded to by the staff team. A variety of visual communication methods, including social stories, are used to support the child. Regular meetings with the child, including key-work sessions, help the child to speak to staff about any concerns or worries. An independent advocate is committed to ensuring that the child’s wishes and feelings are represented.

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improvement to be good

Family time is promoted and facilitated by the staff team. This allows the child to maintain a sense of belonging with loved ones.

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improvement to be good

Staff have supported the child to re-engage in education, having missed a significant amount of learning in school. Lessons are provided on site by a dedicated tutor. This gives the child daily structure, and provides them with a source of enjoyment.

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improvement to be good

The child’s engagement in charity work and other activities teaches them about disadvantage and inequality and enables them to celebrate difference. The child’s participation in a range of activities, such as pamper days, board games, watching Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 4 films, listening to music and dancing, provides them with positive experiences and time to relax.

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improvement to be good

The child’s safety is monitored through risk-management meetings. There are no indications that the child is at risk of exploitation, radicalisation and/or other threats to their safety. Safety work with the child ensures that they can recognise risks should they occur. However, the planned child sexual exploitation key-work session has not been done.

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improvement to be good

The child’s individualised risk assessment identifies their current risks and the mitigation strategies. However, due to a lack of evaluation from leaders and managers, it is unclear how effective the strategies are to reduce the risks.

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improvement to be good

Staff help the child to control their emotions when their complex behaviours are triggered. The support from specialist mental health professionals enhances the staff team’s ability to manage the child’s complex behaviour through training and consultation.

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improvement to be good

To keep the child safe, staff restricted their liberty for a short time, without a legal order. Locks were installed on the exterior and interior doors to prevent the child from coming to harm. Appropriate arrangements have since been made through the courts, authorising the practice of locking doors. However, leaders and managers did not escalate their concerns quickly when the local authority failed to carry out its duties in response to these concerns. In addition, the child’s behaviour management and safety plans do not clarify the current procedures for locking doors or outline how staff are expected to follow them so that everyone has a shared understanding of the process.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is used as a last resort. However, the staff have been retreating to another room when the child’s behaviour has exceeded their capacity to manage. On at least one occasion, the child was left alone for an unacceptable length of time following an incident. This practice does not promote safe care; neither does it provide the therapeutic care that leaders and managers promote.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment practices have not been consistently safe and robust. Discrepancies in employment dates in application forms have not been verified and gaps in employment have not been explored. The rationale for appointing staff to care for children is not recorded.

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improvement to be good

Allegations against staff and complaints are taken seriously and investigated. Leaders and managers work in consultation with the child’s parent, local authority designated officer, social worker and the police. The outcomes of allegations and complaints have led to lessons learned, some of which are yet to be embedded. Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 5

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good

The registered manager left the home at very short notice. The impact of their departure on the child’s experiences and well-being has been detrimental. During the inspection, it was difficult to obtain information promptly, indicating weak organisational practices.

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good

The recently appointed responsible individual has been a positive source of support to the staff team. They have a good relationship with the child and raise morale within the staff team.

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good

Although many of the staff have left since the home was registered, new staff have been recruited to ensure that there are no gaps in the rotas. New staff have settled into their roles, and they are invested in the child’s progress. Staff meetings, daily handovers and training are sources of support that provide learning opportunities. Staff spoken to said that they feel well supported by the managers. Regular supervision takes place, but, in one example, the supervision of a bank staff member was unrelated to the child living at the home.

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good

Leaders and managers have not satisfied themselves that the staff team understands the statement of purpose. This does not ensure that the staff have a full appreciation of how they are caring for children. Furthermore, it does not provide a consistent approach that is in line with the home’s ethos and model of care.

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good

The workforce development plan for the home is not specific to the child. It does not include key details about the management and staffing structure, staff qualifications, how leaders and managers will progress the staff team’s knowledge and skills, or how the induction for new staff will be managed, including probation and staff supervision. The plan does not make it explicitly clear how leaders and managers will ensure that safeguarding skills within the staff team are gained, refreshed and recorded.

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good

Although professionals spoke positively about their relationship with the home and the care of the child, communication has not been consistently robust. One professional did not know about the locks on the internal doors in the home, raising questions about the quality of information sharing. A recent visit to the home by a professional was missed. The visit had not been diarised by the previous registered manager and they were unable to gain access to the premises. The provider has not shared the landline phone number with stakeholders, which prevents them from having an alternative means of contacting the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 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

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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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)(a)(b)(i)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered provider must ensure that the staff team understands the home’s statement of purpose. In addition, ensure that the home is well maintained throughout, including installing a new doorbell and sharing the home’s phone number with parents and professionals. 3 February 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—

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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 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 7 necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they measure the effectiveness of the risk-management strategies to reduce the identified risks.

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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 specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that lessons learned are implemented so that they inform future practice and improve the child’s experiences; that access to all documents in the home is improved; that the quality of communication with stakeholders is improved; and that all the identified safety work with the child is completed. 3 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that the required remedial action is taken following a medication error to prevent a further incident. 3 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which 3 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 8 the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that full and satisfactory recruitment checks are completed in relation to all staff to satisfy themselves that they are safe to care for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that all staff receive the identified training following the complaints investigation. In addition, ensure that the supervision of bank staff relates to the child living at the home. 3 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that the practice of staff retreating to other rooms during incidents is reviewed to ensure safe care practices always take place. 3 February 2023

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 9  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of the statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice. This refers specifically to the registered person ensuring that interview notes of applicants consistently show how decisions to appoint them are made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2677465 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: One City West, Gelderd Road, Leeds LS12 6NJ

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Inspector

Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2677465 11 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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