Children's home run by Chailey Heritage Foundation

Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 1 SC396813 Registered provider: Chailey Heritage Foundation Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a charity. It provides care for up to 27 children with profound physical disabilities, sensory impairments and complex medical needs, including, in some cases, learning disabilities. On site is a non-maintained special school, catering for children and young people aged three to 19 years. Adults receive residential care in Care Quality Commission registered homes on the same site. A team of nurses, therapists and specialists, provided by Sussex Community Foundation Trust, is also based on site and provides medical support.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager at this home. The post has been vacant since 20 May 2022.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers 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: 21 September 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following a monitoring visit to the home on 19 November 2021, Ofsted served two compliance notices on 29 November 2021. These notices were in respect of the Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 2 leadership and management of the home, specifically, concerns about the sufficiency of staffing, and the safe administration and recording of prescribed medication. A further monitoring visit was undertaken on 15 December 2021. The steps in the compliance notices were found to have been met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/09/2021 Full Good 13/08/2019 Full Good 30/10/2018 Full Good 01/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop secure and trusting relationships with the staff caring for them. Staff were observed by inspectors to be attentive and nurturing in their approach to meeting children’s individual needs. Each child’s preferred method of communication is known and understood by the staff. There is a strong commitment to ensuring that children can make choices about how they are cared for and supported. A visiting advocacy service provides further opportunities for children to make their wishes and feelings known.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to an exceptional range of specialist support services on site. Multi-disciplinary planning ensures that the children’s well-being needs are assessed and met. Staff identify and manage children’s complex health needs. Monitoring to ensure that staff meet these needs is effective. Since the last full inspection in September 2021, the nursing team has had a greater presence in the three bungalows. This has ensured that any changes in a child’s medical condition are quickly recognised and addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a strong process for recording and administering medication. The electronic recording system has helped to streamline the procedures for preparing and administering medication and adds a layer of quality assurance to the process. Management monitoring identifies themes and trends in medication errors. This has identified some clear learning and has helped to reduce further occurrences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have made significant progress since coming to live at the home. One child has managed to take their first steps despite medical opinion previously being that this would be unlikely. There are other examples of children developing their core muscle strength and mobility. All the children make steady progress towards meeting their learning targets at the organisation’s on-site school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are consistently treated with dignity and respect. Closed-circuit television is used to monitor and safeguard the children, who all have complex needs and serious medical conditions. Efforts are made to ensure that this approach does not become intrusive. The cameras are not in use whenever a child is being supported with their personal care and hygiene routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff work positively with parents. There is a strong commitment to ensuring that children’s family visits are planned with appropriate support measures in place.

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improvement to be good

Since the last full inspection in September 2021, there has been an overall improvement in many aspects of safeguarding practice. However, there has been Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 5 insufficient scrutiny of fire safety practice. The recommendations made in a fire risk assessment in September 2021 have not been fully implemented. There has been a lack of clarity on the fire evacuation procedure. A recent simulated evacuation did not consistently follow the procedures specified in the children’s personal emergency evacuation plans. Therefore, there is the potential for staff to be unsure of the procedures to follow in a genuine emergency.

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, leaders and managers had not identified these shortfalls. However, after they were brought to the attention of the management team, clear plans were presented on how these matters would be rectified promptly.

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improvement to be good

Action has been taken to reduce the potential for the children to suffer accidents or injuries while being supported to carry out their day-to-day care routines. A new manual handling coordinator provides training and support to the staff who facilitate these routines. Specialist equipment is regularly inspected, and the physiotherapist advises on how best to manage the children’s mobility and sleep positions.

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improvement to be good

Children’s individual vulnerabilities and associated risks are known and understood by the staff. Risk management plans are kept under frequent review and are updated and amended accordingly. There is a system to ensure that staff are kept informed of any changes made to the assessments. This approach minimises the potential for the children to come to harm.

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improvement to be good

There is an effective electronic system for recording any safeguarding concerns. Staff are familiar with this system and the procedures that they should follow if they have a concern for a child’s welfare. This includes any concerns they may have about a colleague’s practice. Senior managers maintain a productive working relationship with the local authority designated officer.

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improvement to be good

Children receive the help and support that they need to manage their behaviours safely. Staff use their knowledge and skills to respond effectively to any unsafe behaviours and create alternative strategies that are specific to the needs of each individual child. This is done in consultation with a multi-disciplinary group of professionals to ensure that good practice is maintained. The use of physical intervention to manage a child’s behaviour is kept to a minimum. There has been a decrease in the use of such measures since the last full inspection.

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improvement to be good

Overall, effective staff recruitment procedures are followed. However, more-accurate detail of any gaps in an applicant’s employment history and a deeper analysis of an applicant’s safeguarding knowledge during the recruitment process are needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager left the home in May 2022 after only a short time in post. A new manager was appointed in July 2022. She has applied to register with Ofsted. This application is currently being processed. The new manager is an experienced member of staff who has previously held a senior care role within the organisation. She has been very well supported by the organisation’s social care head of Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 6 operations. The new manager has been instrumental in ensuring that the requirements and recommendations made at the last full inspection have been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite the challenges in relation to maintaining a full complement of staff, senior managers have taken action to ensure that there are sufficient staff on duty to meet the children’s needs. When sufficiency of staff has become a concern, changes to admissions and occupancy rates have been made to maintain safe care. Leaders and managers consistently explore new and creative ways to support the recruitment and retention of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have reviewed, and in some cases renewed, systems for monitoring the quality of care being delivered. Overall, this has helped to support the development of the staff and improve children’s experiences. Quality of care monitoring has generally identified when improvements can be made promptly. However, this was not the case in relation to fire safety. Monitoring would be improved by ensuring that the actions agreed in staff team meetings are kept under review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Any complaints or indications of poor staff practice are thoroughly investigated. There is a commitment to learning lessons from any such incidents. This is indicative of a reflective culture becoming embedded, in which an honest appraisal of practice leads to overall improvements in the standard of care being provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in their roles. This can partly be attributed to an overall improvement in the frequency of their supervision sessions. Staff say that supervision enables them to reflect on their practice and identify their professional development needs. Staff have access to a comprehensive training programme. Records indicate that all staff are up to date with their clinical training. However, a significant proportion of the staff have not kept up to date with their fire safety and behaviour management training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care planning is a strength at this home. Children’s plans are detailed and provide the staff with clear guidance on how each child’s emotional, health, physical, learning and safety needs should be met. The plans clearly identify the targets that children are working towards and the progress that they are making. There is clear evidence of the positive impact that the home is having on the lives of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Improvements have been made to the decoration and furnishings in the home. Leaders and managers recognise where further improvements could be made to one of the three bungalows. There is a rolling plan, which demonstrates how and when these improvements will be achieved. Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 7

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to ensuring that the home is maintained in accordance with the recommendations made in the fire risk assessment. 23 January 2023

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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. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to ensuring that staff complete and update their training promptly. 23 January 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home provides a homely, domestic environment. Specifically, ensure that the decoration and furnishings are well maintained across all the residential accommodation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. This is with specific reference to ensuring that actions decided in staff team meetings are kept under review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 8  The registered person should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. Specifically, ensure that gaps in applicants’ employment history are fully explored and that each applicant’s knowledge of

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Recommendations

safeguarding is tested during the recruitment process. (‘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: SC396813 9

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Chailey Heritage Foundation

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Inspectors

Stephen Collett, Social Care Inspector Kelly Monniot, Social Care Inspector Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Hannah Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC396813 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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