Children's home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 1 SC066651 Registered provider: Sheffield City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This short-breaks service is owned and managed by a local authority and provides care for up to six children who may have learning and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Currently, no children are receiving a short-breaks service. A variation is in place to allow one child to live at the home until suitable and permanent accommodation is found.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2019.

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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

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/03/2019 Full Outstanding 03/10/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home. One child made a positive transition to their new home five months after their 18th birthday. The staff team remain committed to supporting the remaining child to move to suitable adult accommodation as they are close to their 18th birthday. At the time of the inspection, nowhere had been found by the local authority. The child’s ability to achieve their full potential in a permanent home is being impeded significantly by this delay.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff know the child’s personality and show empathy towards the child and their uncertain future. Several of the staff have developed positive relationships with the child and they have gained the child’s trust. Managers and staff listen to the child’s views and involve them in their daily plans. They advocate for the child’s best interests.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to engage with their home education. The child participates in the subjects, and they are performing well in some subjects. The child’s choice of leisure interests is limited to being taken for drives out, listening to music, writing and having relaxing foot massages.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children are registered with local health services. They support the child to engage with their routine health appointments. The staff work collaboratively with primary and specialist healthcare providers to meet the child’s complex mental health and physical health needs. Two medication errors that happened in close succession were treated as safeguarding concerns. In this case, the child’s health was not seriously compromised, and remedial action has been taken to avoid a further incident.

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improvement to be good

Professionals from the specialist child mental health team have developed scripted responses to help staff to relay consistent responses to the child. This method of communication supports the child to feel less anxious. Small goals are set to enable the child to achieve, no matter how small. This includes the child developing independence skills, such as deciding what to eat, participating in their personal care and dressing themselves.

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improvement to be good

Stakeholder’s express satisfaction with the quality of care provided by the staff team.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of promoting the children’s safety and welfare. They know how to whistle-blow and share any concerns about poor staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 4 performance. Allegations against staff are investigated and the measures that are taken protect the child’s vulnerabilities.

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improvement to be good

The child’s risky behaviours are identified, understood and managed effectively by managers and staff who understand the child’s complex needs and risks. The written risk assessments are comprehensive. They are kept under regular review in response to the child’s changing needs. The risk assessments provide detailed information about the potential risks and include the strategies to reduce the risk of harm to the child and other people. However, it is not clear how the risks are evaluated to determine if or how they are reducing.

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improvement to be good

A high number of incidents involving physical interventions have been experienced by one child since the last full inspection. On three occasions last summer, the police were contacted to assist the staff to manage the child’s dysregulated behaviour. During one incident, the police used a method of restraint on the child that was not permitted at this home. The manager discussed the issue with the police, placing an alert on the police files to make other officers aware of the child’s needs. However, the manager failed to check whether the alert had been implemented by the police. Due to the remedial action taken by managers and health professionals following the incident, no further incidents have required police intervention. Without an agreed protocol, there can be no guarantee that a similar incident will not happen again, which could expose the child to further distress and potential harm.

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improvement to be good

As a result of improved incident records, managers have a better understanding of incidents following physical interventions. However, a lack of analysis of the patterns and trends surrounding the incidents prevent managers from having a clear oversight to confirm what is working well and what needs to change.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment files were missing some key documents, which meant that the suitability of new staff could not be evaluated. This also limits the registered manager from having a good oversight of the staff recruitment checks, which are held by the human resources department. The registered manager is currently reviewing the existing agency staff member’s’ personnel files that have been sent by the recruitment agency. This is helping the manager to satisfy herself that the documents comply with the regulations.

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good

Leaders and managers continue to support and motivate the staff team while overseeing the care of children for an extended period outside of the short-break remit. The staff team has demonstrated resilience and commitment to caring for children despite the challenges that have been outside of their usual expertise.

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good

Staff rate the management support and guidance highly and feel that their suggestions are listened to. Improved daily communication between staff from the home and the agency staff has resulted in a shared understanding of their roles and responsibilities. New staff have filled vacancies and improved the group dynamic. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 5 However, the revised statement of purpose has not been sent to Ofsted to reflect the changes.

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good

The visits by the independent person and internal monitoring systems support the registered manager to understand the strengths of the service and respond to most gaps. The six-monthly review report has been improved to incorporate feedback from professionals, family members and children. However, consultations with the staff team are not included in the report. This aspect of the requirement is repeated. Furthermore, the action plan does not include timescales to help the registered manager to focus on the improvement areas in a timely way. There is no workforce development plan for the home.

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good

Staff confirm that they receive regular supervision. However, the quality of the supervision records is not consistently good and there is little evidence of reflective discussions.

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good

Training supports the staff’s practice. The team meetings keep the staff up to date with the children’s progress and the operation of the home. However, reminders from managers have been ineffective in persuading staff to read and sign the documents consistently.

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good

Managers have not carried out a formal debrief with the staff team following a course of events that led to a staff member leaving. This does not allow the team to reflect on the matters and consider their learning and practice.

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good

The requirements relating to the poor-quality flooring and damaged bath panel have been addressed. A redecoration programme is under way in preparation for the service when it returns to delivering short breaks in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person demonstrating how the risks are continually evaluated to determine if/how they are reducing. The registered person should confirm with the police that the alert for one child has been implemented. 10 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that staff sign the team meeting minutes to confirm that they have read and understood them. 10 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 7 The registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

 analyse the patterns and trends surrounding incidents to confirm what is working well and what needs to change  conduct a formal debrief with the staff team following the issues arising from the staff member leaving the home  confirm that all of the recruitment checks for agency staff have been signed off as suitable and ensure that all staff recruitment information is made available for inspection. The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(b)) 10 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that staff have reflective supervision and that the supervision records are of consistently good quality. 10 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the action plan includes timescales. 10 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the review of the quality of care report includes feedback from staff.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 10 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that there is a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirement of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: SC066651 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sheffield City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspector

Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC066651 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 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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