Children's Home run by West Cumbria Care and Support in Cumberland

Inspection report children's home: 1247670 1 SC1247670 Registered provider: West Cumbria Care and Support Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered by a charitable organisation to provide care under short- break arrangements for up to four children. The home is registered for children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in December 2016.

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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: 10 October 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A compliance notice under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, was issued following a monitoring visit on 17 November 2022. Inspection report children's home: 1247670 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2022 Full Inadequate 08/03/2022 Full Good 29/01/2020 Full Outstanding 27/11/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: 1247670 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who spend time at this short-breaks service benefit from care that is attuned to meet their needs from a nurturing staff team. Staff are supported by the leadership team to have a good understanding of the children’s health and emotional needs and how best to support these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have embedded the learning from recent communication training into their practice and confidently reflect on how this has improved their practice and support for children. A child’s parent praised the staff for their communication with her child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a variety of positive activities to help build close and trusted bonds with children. They know the children well and encourage them to take part in nurturing activities, such as baking, arts and crafts and sensory play. Staff provide social experiences for children, such as day trips and visiting the local parks. Staff document these moments well, capturing the memories with photographs so that children have a record of their time spent living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to achieve greater independence. One child spoke about how staff supported her to develop independence skills and have the confidence to do voluntary work in a café, something she really enjoys and hopes will become a permanent paid role.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s needs are sensitively considered at the point of referral. Ultimately, the matching of children is good. However, more information is needed to evidence how individual children are matched at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have a good understanding of each child’s likes and dislikes. They regularly encourage the children to share their views, wishes and opinions using their preferred method of communication. Staff take these seriously and act on them. One child spoke about how the staff had listened to her regarding bedtime and had compromised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from a home that has been decorated since the last inspection. The home is now warm, inviting and personalised to children, with their pictures on the walls. There are plans in place to renovate the garden to ensure it is accessible for all children who enjoy overnight stays at the home.

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

Children’s health needs are met by a skilled staff team. All staff are suitably trained. The manager ensures there are clear auditing systems in place for medication, and these are done on a monthly basis. Robust checks are in place to ensure all children receive the correct dose of medication. All medication is stored in a safe place and Inspection report children's home: 1247670 4 records are detailed. Where there are queries, staff ensure these are followed up with parents or ask for advice from all relevant healthcare professionals.

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

Children’s risk management plans are detailed. Any changes to risk are considered and plans amended accordingly. For example, a child enjoying overnight stays at the home had become a risk to other children. The manager requested a meeting to review the child’s time at the home and updated all relevant risk assessments, including the child’s impact assessment. This resulted in changes being made to the arrangements for the child’s stays.

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

Children’s support plans are detailed and individual to the child, supporting staff to care for children in a way that promotes each child’s needs and their longer-term goals.

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

Staff respond to accidents and incidents without delay, and there is evidence of the staff sharing the details of these with parents and professionals. However, some records would benefit from additional detail to ensure the source of information is clear. For example, a child had been observed to have marks on their body. The manager had recorded that these were related to an operation but did not make it clear how he was aware of this information. Additional detail would ensure recording of incidents is robust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and leadership team are passionate about developing the service for children and have made significant improvements since the last inspection. The committed deputy manager and senior support worker are attuned to the needs of the children. They provide consistent support and, together with the manager, make a strong management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff discussed the improved support received. They now benefit from regular time and space to reflect on their own practice, both individually and as a team. Staff are supervised regularly, and the records are detailed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are used effectively to reflect on children’s progress. Staff share information with the whole team, discuss issues that are pertinent to the children and identify how practice can be adapted to ensure that children’s individual needs are being met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s oversight of the home has improved. Effective monitoring and evaluation systems have supported the home’s development. This enables leaders and managers to have a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have strong and effective relationships with the placing authority and a range of professionals involved in the care and education of children. They advocate for children and provide professional challenge when required to Inspection report children's home: 1247670 5 ensure children’s needs are met and plans are regularly reviewed and up to date to inform their overnight stays.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a positive learning culture across the team. Staff have completed a number of training courses since the last inspection. However, they have not completed training in safeguarding children with complex needs and learning disabilities. During the inspection, the benefits of this in-depth training to help further inform the team were discussed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and surveillance are used in the home. There is clear guidance in place to support the team to use monitors for some children. However, this is not recorded in the home’s statement of purpose. A requirement has been made in regard to this. Inspection report children's home: 1247670 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 registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the provider ensuring that the use of surveillance in regard to baby monitors being used in the home is recorded within the statement of purpose. 3 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate resources to support their training needs. In particular, staff should receive safeguarding training specifically in relation to children with disabilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. In particular, the manager should ensure that the rational for matching children is clear. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and Inspection report children's home: 1247670 7 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 children's home: 1247670 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: West Cumbria Care and Support

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 26 Stanley Street, Workington CA14 2JD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Catherine Parker

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Inspectors

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1247670 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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