Children's Home run by Wandsworth Borough Council in Wandsworth

Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 1 SC065478 Registered provider: Wandsworth Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides full-time care or short breaks for up to 13 children with physical and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted on 14 November 2005.

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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: 11 January 2022

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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: SC065478 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2022 Full Good 30/09/2019 Full Good 30/05/2018 Full Good 30/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 3

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improvement to be good

Children are enabled to build positive relationships with staff. Staff show care, compassion and warmth towards the children. This helps children to settle into the home and talk to staff about their worries. Parents are happy with the care provided and report that their children love to come to the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise the value of children maintaining family relationships. Children are sensitively supported to spend time with their family and others who are important to them. The manager and staff support children and families to overcome any difficulties in their relationships.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a range of activities both in the home and community. They benefit from having good routines and structure to their day. Children are given opportunities to have new experiences in the community. However, not all children engage in these activities.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a safe environment. All children who live at the home have a personalised bedroom that reflects their personality. Some decoration has been undertaken in parts of the home, and there is a plan to complete the outstanding work to ensure that children live in a warm and homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Children’s privacy is not always respected. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) has been installed in the hallways of the home. The purpose of this surveillance is not for the immediate safeguarding of children but to replay footage to observe past events. This form of surveillance has been installed without adequate consideration of children’s rights.

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improvement to be good

Children are given individualised support in line with their needs and wishes. Staff use appropriate methods of communication, such as visual aids and social stories, to help children to share their views and feelings. This empowers children to raise any concerns or worries they may have and gives them confidence that their opinions matter.

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improvement to be good

The known and potential risks to the children are well understood by managers and staff. Risk assessments are clear and detailed. They are informed by the children’s professional network to ensure that staff take the appropriate action when required. However, risk assessments are not always updated following incidents, and management oversight of these incidents is not always prompt. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 4 Staff only use physical restraint when it is necessary to safeguard children and others. However, children do not regularly receive appropriate support following incidents of restraint to enable them to reflect on their emotions. In addition, incidents of restraint and the method of restraint used are not always clearly recorded. Furthermore, restraint records lack sufficient management oversight. This compromises the home’s requirement to hold an accurate record of all events that

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improvement to be good

have an impact on children’s welfare and safety.

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improvement to be good

The admissions process for new children moving into the home is not sufficiently robust. Information is not always recorded and does not demonstrate that consideration has been given to all aspects of children’s needs. This limits the manager’s ability to carry out a full assessment of a child’s suitability to live in the home.

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improvement to be good

There have been no allegations made by children living at the home. However, not all staff demonstrate good knowledge of the policies and procedures relating to the management of allegations against staff. Two staff members interviewed during the inspection did not demonstrate adequate safeguarding knowledge and did not know how to escalate concerns. This compromises safeguarding practice.

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good

The registered manager is aware of the impact staff shortages are having on the children and the team, especially given the high dependency on the use of agency and casual staff. The manager has a plan in place to address this shortfall through continuous recruitment. The use of agency staff is carefully managed to ensure that staffing levels continue to meet the children’s needs. In addition, staff have attended a team-building day to strengthen teamwork and morale.

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good

Leaders and managers work proactively with other agencies and families. They take onboard feedback from stakeholders and respond quickly when required. Feedback from placing social workers and parents is positive. This demonstrates that children receive well-rounded and consistent care.

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good

The quality and frequency of staff supervision is variable and not in line with the home’s statement of purpose. In addition, the staff induction programme is not always monitored to ensure that all the required learning for the new staff is completed within the specified time. This has an impact on staff having the opportunity to talk about their practice and to have their learning and development reviewed.

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good

Staff undertake a range of online and face-to-face training. However, managers do not regularly monitor what courses staff have completed to assure themselves that they are suitably trained.

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good

Leaders and managers do not have effective monitoring systems in place to review the quality of care provided to children and identify key themes. This is due to the Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 5 inconsistency in the quality of records. In addition, managers do not always respond to the shortfalls in the recording of incidents identified in the independent person’s monthly reports. This compromises management oversight and the development of the service.

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good

Generally, leaders and managers report significant incidents to the regulator as required. However, one serious incident, although managed well, was not reported to the regulator. The failure to report this serious incident is a breach in regulation and compromises the regulator’s oversight. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities when protecting children from harm. Leaders and managers must ensure that all risks to children are thoroughly considered and assessed at the point of referral, risk assessments are updated when required and all incidents are promptly reviewed. 7 April 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— 7 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 7 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 development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the home is lead and managed in a way that is consistent with the home’s approach and ethos as outlined in the statement of purpose. This includes ensuring that staff are appropriately inducted, supervised and trained.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that they understand, monitor and review the quality of care provided to children and take effective action to address shortfalls in practice.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the use of CCTV inside the home. 7 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 8 The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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

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

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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

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

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

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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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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 7 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 9 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)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that restraint records include full details of the method of restraint used and its duration, as well as a debrief of children and staff. In addition, restrain records must demonstrate management oversight and review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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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)(c)(e)) 7 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that in order for the children’s home to be a nurturing and supportive environment, they continue to repair all areas of the home’s interior, including the children’s bedrooms. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the use of agency staff is carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure that children receive continuity of care. No more than half of the staff on duty at any one time should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraphs 10.16 and 10.17)

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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: SC065478 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wandsworth Borough Council, The Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street, London SW18 2PU

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Inspectors

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Melvin Davies, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC065478 11 inspects 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. 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,

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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