Children's Home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 1 Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care 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 by a private provider and offers care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager is not yet registered with Ofsted but has submitted their application.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to adverse weather conditions, the second day of this inspection was carried out remotely.

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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: 24 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: 2642842 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 3

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improvement to be good

The child currently living in the home moved in in December 2022. He was supported in the move by the management team and staff, who provided him with the opportunity to spend time in the home and meet staff before moving in. The efforts made to welcome the child to the home and ensure he had a nice Christmas were recognised by the child’s previous foster carer.

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improvement to be good

The child says that he feels safe in the home and likes living there. He is provided with a range of enjoyable activities, which give him the chance to make friends of a similar age. He has joined a new football team and enjoys training and playing matches at the weekend. The staff team is building positive relationships with the child, who is becoming more confident and comfortable in the home. As a result, the child is starting to develop a sense of belonging in the home and in the community.

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improvement to be good

Daily records give an overview of what the child has been doing, from going to school to riding bicycles and playing in the garden with staff. They are written to the child, in a child-friendly way, and they contain lots of praise and some humour. These records provide a nice reminder to the child of their positive experiences.

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improvement to be good

The child’s healthcare needs are being met. The team is using strategies to promote good dental hygiene, although these have not yet been fully effective. At the moment, sweet treats are locked in the pantry to lessen the impact of poor dental hygiene.

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improvement to be good

The child is attending school. However, due to existing relationships in school and the time it takes to travel to and from school, educational experiences are not always positive. The manager has raised these concerns with the placing authority and school, and the child’s timetable has been adjusted. When not in school, the child is provided with some educational activities, although the manager has requested that a more local provision be found, as full-time schooling is important to promote positive educational outcomes.

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improvement to be good

The child has been involved in 33 incidents and restrained 71 times since moving in. Leaders and managers told the inspector that the large number of restraints were due to the development needs of staff who are new to residential care. Leaders and managers have a sound understanding of therapeutic parenting and the impact of attachment, trauma and restraint, and they have taken some steps to address their concerns. However, this does not negate the potential impact of restraint on children’s emotional health and their overall experiences. A robust plan is necessary to ensure that the use of restraint is reduced and where possible, avoided.

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improvement to be good

The environment is mostly warm and homely, with nice decoration, soft furnishings and large communal spaces. The child’s bedroom is personalised with football Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 4 memorabilia, toys and teddies. However, some institutionalised features detract from the overall homely environment. For example, there are large window restrictors, and door alarms are installed. These are prominent and unsightly, and the manager said that their use will be reviewed.

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improvement to be good

It is not always clear that staff have used adequate strategies to avoid the use of restraint. Reasons for restraint are sometimes tenuous and restraint is not always necessary or proportionate to the likely risk of harm. The strategies staff use to avoid restraint are not always well documented. On at least one occasion, a restraint technique was incorrectly applied, which resulted in increased risk to the child and to the staff member. This was reflected on with the member of staff during a supervision session, and the manager highlighted the increased risk associated with incorrectly using restraint techniques.

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improvement to be good

Restraint records do not always contain the necessary information and records are sometimes inaccurate. For example, some records referred to restraint techniques that were not used.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have responded effectively when safeguarding concerns have been raised about the practice of staff by other members of staff and external professionals. Concerns are shared with the relevant professionals and appropriate actions are identified to improve practice. However, on one occasion, a lack of professional curiosity resulted in an indirect concern that was raised by a child not being identified or explored. As a result, the response to the concern was insufficient and offered little care to the child. The child who raised this concern has since moved out.

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improvement to be good

Care plans provide staff with an overview of most of the needs of the child living in the home. They contain a detailed evening routine, which is being adapted with clinical input to meet the child’s needs. However, plans fail to offer insight and draw appropriate conclusions about some behaviours that challenge staff. Moreover, plans sometimes contain language and phrases that are not always written in a way that children could understand, this is in contrast to children’s daily records.

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good

Leaders and managers are committed to the care of the child living in the home. However, this has not been sufficient to prevent the use of restraint. Although leaders and managers are seeking to upskill the team, additional proactive steps have not been taken to ensure the staff team is suitably skilled and experienced to look after the child effectively. The assessment completed before the child moved in failed to identify how inexperienced staff would meet the child’s specific needs and Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 5 mitigate risk. The provision of additional training and guidance to staff is in its infancy and cannot yet be assessed.

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good

Team meetings are well attended and staff supervision sessions take place regularly. The meetings and supervisions give staff the opportunity to explore how they are feeling and reflect on their practices and the needs of the child. Clinical input is provided by the home’s therapist, which supports the team to consider how they are meeting the child’s needs. The manager has used staff supervision sessions to reflect on the use of restraint.

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good

The location assessment helps staff to consider the risks in the local area and how to mitigate them. It also provides staff with an understanding of the services and resources in the area. This supports staff to help the child to engage safely in the community.

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good

Feedback from the staff team is positive. They feel supported, are passionate about the care of the child and they say that they work well together. Staff are aware that they are a new team. Accordingly, they recognise that there are aspects of their understanding and practice that require development, which could improve the quality of care being offered. The manager is clear that the staff team is committed to providing high-quality care, saying, ‘They are supportive, enthusiastic and want to get it right.’

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good

Feedback from external professionals is mixed. Some praised the communication received from the staff and highlighted the strong leadership at the home. They were also able to identify some progress of children, past and present. However, some professionals questioned the quality of communication between the staff and some of their care practices. For example, a professional shared concerns that a child, who has since moved out, was able to leave the home without staff knowledge, despite receiving one-to-one supervision. Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background; and

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iv)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that care plans support staff to meet the needs of individual children. Plans should be clear and should avoid the use of jargon. 15 May 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

promotes their welfare. 15 May 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 7 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; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff are suitably skilled and experienced to offer good-quality care to children. This specifically relates to ensuring that staff are able to use a range of strategies to support children and promote their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child); and/or

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child).

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that, whenever possible, staff use a range of strategies to avoid the use of restraint. 15 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

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

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; and 15 May 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 8 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure restraint records are accurate and reflect the measures used.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that records clearly detail the steps staff have taken to avoid the use of restraint.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of children. The registered person should seek, as far as possible, to maintain a homely and domestic, rather than ‘institutional’, impression. In particular, they should review the use of window restrictors and bedroom door alarms. If these features are required, they should be as unobtrusive as possible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2642842 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Five Rivers Child Care, 47 Bedwin Street, Salisbury SP1 3UT

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2642842 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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