Children's Home run by Parkview Care (Broadstairs) Limited in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 1 Registered provider: Parkview Care (Broadstairs) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in August 2022.

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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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/08/2021 Full Good 20/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 17/12/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 3

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improvement to be good

Three children have moved out of the home since the last inspection and one child has moved in. One child was living at the home at the time of this inspection. Two children lived at the home for just one month. One child moved on in an unplanned way, due to staff being unable to manage the risks that the child was exposed to and that other children were exposed to. One child moved on to one of the organisation’s other homes. The reason for this move was not clear. Another child lived at the home for seven months but there was no information available on why the child moved or where they moved to.

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improvement to be good

Management oversight of the home has not been effective. Several interim managers have been in post since the last inspection and there have been considerable changes to the senior management team. New staff have not received suitable induction. There is a distinct lack of managerial guidance and leadership. These shortfalls have contributed to instability for children and staff. Consequently, this has had a detrimental effect on children’s experiences and progress.

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improvement to be good

Children’s placement plans are not always clear and do not reflect the progress that children make. Staff are not aware of children’s targets and these are not recorded in children’s placement plans. There is no evidence of how children who have either moved on from the home or currently live there have progressed. The staff have failed to build an accurate and detailed picture of what children have achieved and what further support they need to progress.

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improvement to be good

The child now at the home is making good progress with their education. Staff support them to attend school. Communication between the home and the education provider is good. This has resulted in the child’s increased attendance. However, the written education placement plan does not outline the progress that the child has made.

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improvement to be good

Staff have supported the child with their independence skills, including learning to cook, undertaking laundry tasks and having free time in the community.

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improvement to be good

When appropriate, the child is supported to visit their friends. They have benefited from valuable opportunities to build and maintain friendships. The child has had her friend to stay and enjoyed sleepovers.

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improvement to be good

Staff have regular conversations with the child. Records of these discussions are clear and detail the child’s views and opinions. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 4

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been several investigations into management practice. These were referred to the appropriate people and investigated thoroughly. This has led to changes to the management team. The new senior managers have used lessons learned to amend practice.

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improvement to be good

Children’s behaviour management plans and risk assessments do not fully support staff to safeguard children. Risk assessments have not been updated consistently. Staff are unable to locate the behaviour plans. Consequently, staff may be unaware of children’s triggers and support needs.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not notified all safeguarding concerns to Ofsted. Consequently, Ofsted has not been able to monitor responses to safeguarding incidents to ensure that they have been managed effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff give appropriate consequences in response to unwanted behaviours. However, staff do not consistently record and evaluate the consequences within the required timescales.

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improvement to be good

The provider carries out appropriate safer recruitment checks. All required information is obtained and verified before staff begin working with the children.

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improvement to be good

All staff have had safeguarding training and know how to report concerns. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding.

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good

The manager and deputy manager both left the home in August 2022. A manager from another of the organisation’s homes became the interim manager. However, for a short time there was no day-to-day management oversight of the home. A member of staff spoke about it being difficult without a manager to guide the team.

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good

A manager has now been appointed. He has the necessary experience and qualifications to manage the home. He is yet to be registered with Ofsted.

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good

There have been several changes to the responsible individual and managers of the home since the last inspection. A staff member said, ‘Since being here, we have never had a permanent manager. It is good that we finally have someone who can lead and support us.’

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good

There has been a high turnover of staff since the last inspection; 19 staff have left and 13 have started. This, coupled with the changes of senior staff, has meant that children have not been able to build lasting relationships with the adults who care for them. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 5 Monitoring by leaders and managers has been ineffective and has led to the shortfalls found during this inspection. The responsible individual now meets monthly with other senior staff and has begun to identify issues at the home. A clear development plan is now in place.

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good

Staff said that they previously found staff meetings unhelpful. One staff member said, ‘It felt as if we were just being told off and that our opinions didn’t matter. We now feel valued and listened to. This has made such a difference to the team.’

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good

Some records, such as those of consequences, physical interventions and incidents, have not been written within the required timescales. Some records have been written by a member of the management team who was not involved in the incidents. This does not ensure that the staff concerned have accurately recorded the event and makes it difficult for the manager to monitor incidents effectively. These matters were being investigated but this process has not been concluded.

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good

Staff have not received regular supervision. Some of the records of supervision sessions are poor and lack information on the decisions made and actions agreed for staff. Since the new senior managers have been in post, supervision has improved. A member of staff said, ‘We have all had individual supervision with the new responsible individual and operations director to gain our views and look at our training and development needs.’

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good

Staff said that since the new responsible individual and operations director were appointed in September 2022 there have been positive changes. Staff now feel valued and fully involved in the development of the home.

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good

The two requirements and two recommendations from the last inspection have been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 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 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 home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are updated and kept where staff can find them and that behaviour plans identify triggers and de-escalation strategies to enable staff to manage behaviour effectively. 31 March 2023

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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

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Requirement Due date

development of the quality of care provided in the home; 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records are updated and evaluated by the manager and that records reflect children’s progress.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) 31 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)) 31 March 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;

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Requirement Due date

and receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 31 March 2023

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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—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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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")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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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 (3)(a)(iv)(vii) (b)(i)(ii) (c)) 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 8 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 31 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted. In particular, build a stable staff team so that children can build and sustain good-quality relationships with the adults who care for them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff who have been involved in an incident make and sign a written record after the incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1258386 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Parkview Care (Broadstairs) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Brentano Suite, Solar House, 915 High Road, North Finchley, London N12 8QJ

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Inspector

Trish Palmer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1258386 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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