Children's home run by Oldham Children’s Social Care in Oldham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC387671 1 SC387671 Registered provider: Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority children’s home. It offers short breaks to a maximum of seven children at any one time.

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Information about this children’s home

The home cares for children with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, sensory impairment and autism spectrum disorder.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since November 2021.

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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 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: 8 December 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: SC387671 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/12/2021 Full Good 12/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 04/04/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC387671 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by nurturing and dedicated staff who know them well. Positive relationships and regular communication between staff and children’s families result in children experiencing continuity of care and routine while having their stays in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time at the home. They are able to participate in a range of activities in the community and within the home. Children have new experiences and have fun. Parents and social workers said that children look forward to their stays. For the most part, children are able to choose the bedroom they prefer to stay in, and they can make this their own for the duration of their stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Careful consideration of children’s individual needs and group dynamics means that children can spend time together in a positive environment. Children who have left the service since the last inspection have done so to move to adult services or due to other changes in their lives, rather than the service being unable to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

After each stay, staff complete a ‘My Stay’ record for children and their families. This is a brief written record of what each child has done, with photos of their activities. This ensures good communication between the staff and families and gives children a lasting record of their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children, including those who are non-verbal or have barriers to communication, are supported to express their views and feelings. Staff use children’s preferred methods of communication, such as Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and social stories. Children are encouraged to express their views at regular children’s meetings. Records of the meetings show that staff regularly act on children’s requests, for example by buying specific toys or having a male staff member on shift for one child’s stay. Requests are read and a written response is provided by the registered manager. This helps children to feel valued and gives them additional control over their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been consulted about the redecoration of some bedrooms. The addition of colourful stickers and wall art has made these rooms more child-centred. The planned refurbishment of the kitchen has not yet started. This was raised as a recommendation at the last inspection. The registered manager has actively pursued this with senior leaders in the local authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Access to the kitchen is still restricted by the presence of a fob lock. Children’s access to communal areas of the home was raised as a requirement at the last inspection. The manager acted to remove the fob during this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC387671 4 The need for further improvement to the home environment and the restriction of children’s access to some communal areas mean that children are not always experiencing a child-centred, homely environment as would be expected in a family home.

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

Children’s care records, plans and assessments are written in a way that brings children to life for the adults reading them. The quality of these records enhances staff's understanding of children's needs and the care that they provide to children.

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

For children who are cared for by the local authority, staff have access to the local authority electronic recording system. Not all statutory documents for these children, such as care plans and placement plans, are kept in the home’s own children’s records. As a result, some children’s records are incomplete.

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

There have been two isolated incidents of medication errors, neither of which has resulted in any harm to children. The vast majority of medication is handled appropriately, and staff have policy and guidance to support their work. Where errors have occurred, they have been fully investigated by managers and changes have been made to reduce the likelihood of these errors being repeated. Medication is stored safely, and staff are appropriately trained.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted. Incidents of staff holding children to keep them safe are rare. When used, physical holds are low level, with staff guiding children away from situations. The one serious incident is recorded in detail and the rationale for staff actions is clear. Children experience good-quality care, which helps them to build trusting relationships with staff.

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

Staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. Safeguarding concerns are quickly identified and leaders and managers share this information with children’s social workers and key people in a timely manner. Staff contribute well to multi-agency planning, which reduces risks to children.

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

All serious incidents are notified to Ofsted. This helps the regulator make a judgement about the event and the response from leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leadership and management of the home are effective. The registered manager is supported by two experienced deputy managers. Leaders and managers are aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development, and have made progress to address these areas for improvement over the last 12 months.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is looking at ways to increase access to the home as a resource for children with disabilities and their parents. These may be children who do not use the home for short breaks. These developments are in their infancy and the impact on children accessing the home for short breaks cannot yet be evaluated. Inspection report for children’s home: SC387671 5 Staff said that leaders and managers are supportive and accessible. Staff receive regular, good-quality supervision. Supervision records are detailed and show reflective discussions between managers and staff about the children in their care and the quality of practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings provide an additional forum for staff to discuss the experiences of children. Since the last inspection, two team development days have taken place, one of which also included social workers from the Children with Disabilities Team in the local authority. Such events provide valuable opportunities for residential staff and social workers to build closer working relationships, which benefits children .

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The mandatory training offer for staff does not include specific training in relation to the needs of children the home cares for, as detailed in its statement of purpose. Some specialist training is available to staff but this is on an individual, ad-hoc basis. There is no agreed, structured induction programme for new staff or expected refresher training for more experienced staff that focuses on the needs of children who use the service. As a result, staff may not gain all the skills and knowledge they require to meet the complex needs of children in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In addition to visits from the independent visitor as required by regulation, children also have regular visits from a children’s rights officer. This additional external input, focused solely on the experience of children in the home, provides another opportunity for independent scrutiny of practice, which helps improve the quality of care. This is particularly important for those children who may have barriers to communication and who may need an adult to advocate for them. Inspection report for children’s home: SC387671 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 privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that the fob locking mechanism is removed from the kitchen door and that any restriction of access for children to communal areas is time-limited, follows a written assessment of risk and is regularly reviewed.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 20 February 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the proposed arrangements to replace and upgrade the existing kitchen are completed in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: SC387671 7  The registered person should ensure that children’s statutory plans and assessments held on the local authority electronic case recording system are also kept in the home’s records for each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered manager should ensure that all staff receive the training they need to understand and care for children with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, sensory impairment and autism spectrum disorder. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC387671 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham OL1 1UT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Nicholas Whitbread

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC387671 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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