Children's home run by Medway Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 1 Registered provider: Medway Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides short breaks for up to five children aged from five to 18 years with a diagnosed learning disability or a learning and physical disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 10 May 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/06/2022 Full Good 28/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff know the children well. This is seen through children’s smiles, body language, and positive interactions. These quality and purposeful relationships mean that children feel happy and relaxed when they stay away from home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Due to staff shortages, capacity for children’s overnight stays has been reduced from five children to three. Where safe to do so, other children visit for dinner. This is helping staff to build positive relationships with children before they stay overnight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Senior leaders are aware of recruitment gaps and are actively recruiting to these posts. There are currently no employed senior staff in the home. This means that residential support workers are stepping up and taking on extra responsibilities. Staff say that they do this because they want to, and aspire to work as a cohesive team; however, at times, they feel under-appreciated. Senior leaders do recognise this, and during a recent quality assurance visit from this local authority, it was recommended to review the recruitment policy, including benefits and incentive schemes for staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The building has plentiful resources, including appropriate and suitable toys and interactive games for children to enjoy. The redecoration and organisation of rooms in the home has created inviting spaces, each individually designed for purposeful engagement and activities for children. The grand dining room boasts a large table with lots of seating, lots of green plants, beautiful murals, and cosy corners for children to read. The sensory room needs to be modernised and children’s play equipment in the garden needs to be updated. The registered manager has included this in her development plans and has started to receive quotes for this work to be completed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create interactive and interesting display boards for children visiting the home. These include how children are feeling, children’s artwork and key topics. These are displayed in an easy-to-read format and a purposeful way for children to digest and reflect on the information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are plentiful communication resources and aids in the home that meet children’s individualised needs. These are accessible to children and actively encourage their independence skills, such as visual prompts and cues for helping to lay the dinner table. Staff praise children for their efforts, and this makes them feel valued for their contributions. This is also helping children to learn new and transferable skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have received training on the use of communication systems since the last full inspection. This has helped to strengthen how staff communicate with children, including how staff prepare short stories and visual timetables. For some children, this has helped to reduce their worries about visiting the setting for the first time. Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 4 For parents, this helps them to prepare their children for time spent away from home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create children’s care plans through partnership working with families. These are live documents that staff regularly update to reflect children’s needs from stay to stay. Plans include subtle, yet important, information for children, which makes a significant difference when they stay. For example, staff record how children like their food combinations and textures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff write ‘end of stay’ reports for parents. These lovingly capture children’s visits and include a full summary of their explorations, the fun that they have had, and care needs. Staff use photographs to enhance reports and mirror staff engagement and support with children. This helps parents and carers to have a greater understanding of their child’s time spent away from home, and effectively promotes good communication links with staff.

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

There has been one occasion of one child going missing from the home since the last full inspection. The registered manager has completed a thorough investigation, evidencing shortfalls in the security of the building and staff practice. Subsequent actions following the investigation have been completed, such as a new locking mechanism for the front door, how staff access the building, and a review of the missing policy and staff procedures. Furthermore, staff have been supported through focus supervisions and learning reviews, and offered additional independent support and services. This demonstrates an understanding and willingness to learn from and effectively improve how staff help and protect children. There have been no further instances of children going missing from the home.

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

The registered manager has managed parents’ complaints in a sensitive and timely way. She has kept good chronologies and timelines of events, supporting internal policies and procedures. Where needed, she has appropriately escalated concerns to leaders and professionals within this local authority. This demonstrates good partnership working and transparency.

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

The registered manager ensures that staff are safely recruited and have the skills to care for children. She ensures that all relevant checks are completed on staff prior to them starting in the home. Therefore, the previous recommendation has been met.

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

All health and safety matters in the home are well managed. There is clear managerial oversight, and remedial work is completed to a good standard and within good timeframes. However, staff have not updated risk assessments for the use of chemicals in the home. This is a missed opportunity to provide information on the handling, storage and emergency measures in case of an accident.

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

Staff say that they have the relevant training in meeting the children’s needs, and this is mostly reflected in the registered manager’s monitoring. However, one member of staff’s training for children’s feeding routines has expired. The member Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 5 of staff has completed this training. However, managers have not transferred this information across to the training matrix.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered and deputy manager have clear and mostly effective systems in place for the monitoring and oversight of the home. Where gaps are identified, action plans are devised and filtered into staff supervision as necessary. This is helping to review the quality of service delivery as well as ensuring that staff have the most- relevant information on the children who they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel well supported and receive reflective supervisions. When staff ask questions or have queries, the registered manager refers them to the children’s homes regulations and other relevant legislation. This is aiding staff development and encouraging them to be professionally curious for themselves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose is reflective of the ethos and support that children receive from staff. The registered manager shares this document with parents, social workers, and other professionals. She has further adapted it in an easy-to- read children’s guide. However, it does not contain details of the experience and qualifications of staff working in the home. Although this information is provided in the registered manager’s work force development plan, it is not being regularly shared with Ofsted. This means that the regulator is not kept informed of staff changes, skills, and development outside of inspection activities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager regularly completes quality of service reviews that include good developments for the home. However, the review of the previous actions are not clear. This makes it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of her action planning and subsequent development in the home. She has also not included feedback from children, parents and relevant professionals. This is a further missed opportunity to evidence how children’s and external professional views are considered and used to further develop outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has met the previous requirements and recommendations from the last full inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that training that has been attended by staff is suitably recorded and monitored.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must effectively review and monitor the cleaning chemicals used in the home. 1 August 2023

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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. (Regulation 16 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must include details of the experience and qualifications of staff working in the home. 1 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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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— 1 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 7 the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities, and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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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.

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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 (1) (2)(b)(c) (5))

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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: 2571557 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Medway Council, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Medway ME4 4TR

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Inspector

Kelly Monniot, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2571557 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 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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