Children's Home run by Lakeside @ Our Place Limited in Worcestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 1 Registered provider: Lakeside @ Our Place Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company operates this children’s home. It can provide care for 10 children with learning disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, a new responsible individual and registered manager have been appointed.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit took place on 15 November 2022 as a result of escalating concerns in safeguarding notifications submitted to Ofsted. As a result of that visit, a notice restricting accommodation and a compliance notice relating to regulation 23 (medicines) were issued. A further monitoring visit took place on 5 December 2022 to review the restriction notice, which had been adhered to, and to review the compliance notice, which was found to be unmet and, as a result, was reissued. A third monitoring visit took place on 30 January 2023. At this visit, the notice restricting accommodation was lifted and the compliance notice was found to be met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Six children and one young person who has recently turned 18 live in the home. Since the last visit in January 2023, two children have moved out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported when they move on to their new homes. They have the opportunity to visit and meet their new carers. In addition, staff spend time with children to help them understand their plans. For example, one child received regular social stories to inform his understanding and the timescales for moving to his new home. In addition, staff continued to visit the child when he moved to help him settle. This practice helps to reduce any worries and promotes new relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with good-quality, individualised care. Care plans include detailed information and clear guidance about meeting the children’s physical and emotional health needs. However, for the young person living in the home, there is no clear plan between the home and the young person’s placing authority regarding their future home and to support them to move into suitable accommodation in a timely way. This has not impacted the quality of care for the other children living in the home. During the inspection, the manager recognised this shortfall and escalated this with the young person’s social worker.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school and college regularly and are making good progress in their education. One child has become more focused, will sit at his desk independently and requires less support when engaging in the use of his tablet. The staff work collaboratively with the school to support the children’s education to ensure that consistent communication strategies are used with children. This supports a holistic approach and supports children’s educational development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in meaningful activities at the home and in the community. They regularly participate in different hobbies and leisure activities. This enables children to learn new skills and enjoy new experiences while taking part in fun activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the home environment has become more personalised and child-friendly. For example, there are now photos of children displayed proudly in communal spaces. However, some aspects of the decor appear tired and need redecoration.

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

Staff understand children’s known risks and what actions they are expected to take to keep children safe. Children’s written risk assessments include clear guidance for staff about how they should respond to risk. Risk assessments are regularly Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 4 reviewed and updated to reflect new and emerging risks. This ensures that the staff have access to the most up-to-date information about how to safeguard children.

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

The use of physical intervention is proportionate. However, when intervention is required, staff have failed to record the intervention clearly. Staff do not always record the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure or the steps taken to de-escalate incidents. While this has had no serious consequence, it means that learning from incidents is restricted.

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

Children are supported to develop their independence skills at a pace suited to their individual needs. Staff work with the children to develop trust and life skills, to enable children to be as independent as possible in order to spend time in the community. Children are supported to shop and cook, while also having meals cooked for them. This support enables children to develop their independence while still feeling cared for and supported.

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

Medication arrangements are safe. Medication is safely stored and administered. There is now a clear plan in place for children to receive medication when they spend time with family. This has ensured consistency and improved the manager’s oversight of children’s health needs.

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

Recruitment processes are thorough and staff who are recruited to work in the home are subject to all necessary checks. This helps to ensure that children receive care from adults who have been appropriately vetted.

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

Professionals and parents spoke highly of the care provided and identified that the new manager has brought about improvement. Social workers spoken to said that communication has improved and that children are happy and making progress. One parent spoken to during the inspection said, ‘This is a lovely place for [name of child] to spend his life.’ Another parent said staff are ‘absolute gems and go that extra mile to make a difference’ for their child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed. He has applied for registration with Ofsted. The manager is enthusiastic about the service and is child- focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, several staff have left. The manager has been proactive in covering shifts himself, which has promoted consistency for children, and also provided some role-modelling of good care practice to the staff team. When there has been a need to use agency staff, the manager has minimised the impact by using the same agency staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff told inspectors that the new manager is approachable and supportive. The manager has implemented new initiatives to help build an inclusive team and improve the quality of care provided. For example, the manager has introduced Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 5 learning workshops on topics such as the roles and responsibilities of a key worker and record-keeping, and he also has plans for team-building activities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are offered a range of training opportunities, and, since the last inspection, in particular around medication administration. However, night staff have not received training to support them to care for children with communication needs. In addition, managers are yet to implement a plan to support staff who have not completed the appropriate qualification within regulatory timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

To improve management oversight, the manager plans to develop the monitoring tools used in the home. The manager hopes that these changes will ensure that there is a prompt response to shortfalls in practice. The effectiveness of this new practice will be considered at the next inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff —

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. ( Regulation 5 (1)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that there are regularly updated and reviewed moving-on plans and care plans, including a transition plan between the home and the placing authority. 27 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that all staff have received training which is specific to the needs of the children. 27 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only— 27 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 7 employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. (Regulation 32 (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that staff achieve the relevant qualification within the required timescale.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(viii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that records meet regulatory requirements and enable incidents to be understood to aid future learning and to identify patterns and trends. 27 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 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: 2553111 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lakeside @ Our Place Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lakeside, Bransford, Worcester, Worcestershire WR6 5JE

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Inspectors

Sophie Hills, Social Care Inspector Glenis Staiger-Grant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2553111 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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