Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 1 SC476303 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider to care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There are three children currently living in the home. The inspector spoke to all of the children during this inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2017.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 15 February 2022

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2022 Full Good 09/04/2019 Full Good 24/07/2018 Full Outstanding 01/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in this home. Children say they are happy in the home and feel safe, and all spoken with said that they would not change anything about the home. There are strong and trusting relationships between the staff and the children. One professional spoken with said that a child they offer support to is safer and less vulnerable because of the quality of care the home provides.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences when they move into the home as moves are well planned and tailored to the individual needs of each child. Staff are provided with bespoke training to meet children’s specific needs when required. Staff stay in contact with children who move on from the home, which demonstrates to children that staff care about them. Children are also supported to stay in touch with each other if they want to. This creates an extended support network for children for when they grow and creates a sense of belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to live healthy lifestyles. All of the children receive regular checks by local dentists, general practitioners and opticians. Any treatment they may require is arranged and received in a timely manner. One child has significantly reduced their nicotine intake with support from staff. The staff support the children to access services to support them with their mental health and well-being when needed. Staff escalate appropriately when they feel children are not receiving the services they require.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager supports staff to understand children’s diverse needs. A range of resources were quickly identified and arranged to support one child who moved into the home who did not speak English. This has included access to learning English and participating in sports teams within the child’s own community. All documents which children regularly access in the home were translated into the child’s first language. This has helped the child to feel supported, cared for and the importance of their identity is understood.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with opportunities to have new experiences and learn new skills. Children are also supported to maintain hobbies which they had prior to moving into the home. Children’s friends are welcomed into the home, which contributes to the homely ethos and allows staff to understand children’s friendships to helps to improve their safety.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well decorated and maintained to a good standard. Children have a say about how they want their home to be decorated and all children have a lockable storage space in their bedrooms. Repairs are responded to quickly to maintain a good standard of care for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 4

p.3

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

Staff are well informed of the risks that the children face. Risk assessments are individual to the needs of each child and are regularly updated. This helps the staff to understand and implement strategies to support the children to stay safe.

p.4

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

The registered manager carefully reviews all known risks when considering a child before they move into the home. This includes requesting additional information from professionals, if necessary, to inform safe decision-making. This reduces the likelihood of children needing to move on due to staff being unable to meet children’s needs or keep children safe.

p.4

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

Staff support the children to contribute to their individual behaviour and care plans. The registered manager and staff have devised a child-friendly visual aid known as ‘My first aid kit’, which allows children to describe what may trigger certain behaviours for them. There is information on what these behaviours may look like and how staff can respond to support children when they feel upset. This helps the children build trusting relationships with the staff and reduces the likelihood of physical interventions being used.

p.4

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

The staff and the registered manager respond well to incidents of bullying. Staff take steps to support the children to learn tolerance and help them to repair relationships. When children have persisted with bullying, the needs of all of the children living in the home are considered. This has resulted in one child moving on from the home, in the interests of the other children’s well-being.

p.4

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

Physical interventions are extremely rare and, when they have occurred, children have not been held. However, on one occasion, it was not recognised that restricting access to parts of the home to keep children safe was a form of physical intervention. It was therefore not recorded as such, and this prevented the registered manager from appropriately reviewing if the restriction of movement was necessary. It also prevented the registered manager from being assured that any conversations with staff and children took place in a timely manner after the incident happened, to reflect on the incident and ensure appropriate support was offered.

p.4

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

Staff document all serious incidents that happen in the home in line with the provider’s policy. However, one record does not accurately reflect an incident as it happened, in particular restricting children’s movements around the home. This has prevented the registered manager from being satisfied that the staff acted in accordance with the provider’s safeguarding procedures, and means that an accurate documented account of the incident does not exist. This leaves the staff and registered manager open to challenge and has the potential to expose children to risk. Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 5

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and committed to providing good care to children who live in the home. The children know her well, as she strikes a balance between managing the home while having a visible presence. One child said they wished the registered manager could be in the home all of the time.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by the registered manager. She ensures that the home runs smoothly and any decisions made do not adversely affect the care the children receive. The registered manager has oversight of supervisions for all of the staff in the home, which are regular and reflective in nature. One member of staff said that the registered manager was ‘one of the best managers’ they had ever had.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager escalates requests for information about a child when they are not received in a timely manner. This ensures that the staff have access to the most up-to-date information about a child and that staff are therefore providing children with care in accordance with their care plans. The registered manager has also escalated delayed medical assessments for children to ensure that opportunities are not missed to meet children’s health needs.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are regular and well attended by staff. The registered manager uses these meetings as an opportunity to consider ways to improve staff practice. This has included reflecting on the type of language that staff use when they write information which is held on children’s file.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The practice of using the police to manage children’s behaviour has not reoccurred since being addressed by the registered manager.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager exercises a safer recruitment process. The registered manager requests additional information to support any gaps in an applicant’s employment history or any gaps in information. This informs decision-making in determining if the candidate has the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to provide safe care to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

p.6

Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

p.6

Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

p.6

Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 27 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 7 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

p.7

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that restrictions of liberty of movement are recorded as a restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.42)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff accurately record incidents and ensure that staff accurately record when children’s views have been sought. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

p.7

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: SC476303 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

p.8

Inspector

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC476303 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9