Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes North East Limited in Newcastle upon Tyne

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 1 SC472795 Registered provider: Artemis Support 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 and managed by a private provider. The home can provide care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in January 2014. The manager was registered in April 2020.

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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

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: SC472795 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/05/2022 Full Good 02/11/2021 Full Good 04/09/2019 Full Good 14/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 3

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improvement to be good

The children enjoy their time in this home because of the positive relationships that they develop with the staff team. One child rated living at the home as ‘ten out of ten’. However, children’s plans are not consistently reviewed or evaluated. This hinders the staff in encouraging all the children to make continued progress.

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improvement to be good

The home is furnished to a good standard. Some children have en-suite facilities in their bedrooms. However, the cleanliness of the bedrooms, en-suites and various other parts of the home is poor and requires attention. This does not help to build children’s self-esteem. It is also poor role-modelling for those children who will be moving on to live independently. Staff addressed some of these shortfalls during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

There is now a separate staff bedroom with an en-suite bathroom which staff use when spending the night in the home. This means the living-room door no longer needs to be locked at night. However, the living-room door continues to be locked at midnight. Children do not have free access to all areas of the home. This practice prevents the children from living in a homely environment.

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improvement to be good

The staff team embraces the children’s religious and cultural needs. The staff have translated many of the home’s documents into one child’s first language, so that the child is not disadvantaged in understanding their rights. The staff have also supported the child to learn English. In addition, staff have learned about the child’s religious practices, with staff rising at 4am to support the child in observing Eid. This practice helps children to feel that their beliefs are valued.

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improvement to be good

Children access activities in their local community, such as boxing, go-karting and paddle boarding. Children have also had the opportunity to go on holiday nearby. Photos of the children’s progress and activities are captured in the children’s individual memory books. This provides the children with life-long memories of their time living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Professionals said that communication with the staff is good. The staff regularly attend meetings about the children. This allows the staff to contribute towards the care planning for the children and also means that they have access to the most up- to-date information from other professionals to help to keep the children safe.

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improvement to be good

The children’s risk assessments are not consistently updated and contain conflicting information. This prevents the staff from being clear about which safety plan they should follow. The staff do not always read the children’s updated safety plans and risk assessments in a timely manner. This, together with the information not being Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 4 current, means that the staff do not know what steps to take to keep the children safe.

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improvement to be good

The staff do not consistently search for children when they are missing from the home and do not always follow the instructions within the missing-from-home protocols. In addition, the staff do not follow the provider’s policy to escalate information to the safeguarding lead. This prevents the manager from being assured that the staff understand the risks that the children face and that the staff will take the necessary steps required to keep the children safe.

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improvement to be good

There are gaps and errors in the staff’s recording of incidents, the medication records and the children’s expenditure from their bank accounts. This hinders the manager in their oversight of staff practice and ability to identify areas for staff development. It also prevents the manager from being assured that medication is being correctly administered and is accounted for.

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improvement to be good

The manager does not keep an accurate legal record of the children’s consent forms. This includes the manager not having the agreement from the children’s placing authority and parents, such as for emergency medical treatment. A further example is that staff accessed one child’s mobile phone to listen to recorded conversations, without there being any consent to do so.

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improvement to be good

Children’s complaints are investigated, and children are informed of the outcome of their complaints. When children make complaints against other children in the home or against staff, the children are supported to repair these relationships. This helps the children to feel listened to and supported. However, the manager does not consistently respond to complaints made on behalf of the children. This results in some parents feeing dissatisfied with the standard of care that their children receive.

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improvement to be good

The manager has delayed informing the regulator of notifications of significant events. The delay and the poor quality of the information received do not provide assurances that the manager and staff are taking the necessary steps to keep the children safe.

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improvement to be good

The manager practises safer recruitment procedures for new staff. This helps to keep the children safe.

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good

The manager does not use her monitoring and review systems effectively to improve the service, and to check that staff are completing their necessary tasks in the home. This includes the manager not identifying that the information within the children’s risk assessments and safety plans is not accurate.

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good

Supervision sessions with the staff are not reflective and do not consistently take place in line with the provider’s policy. This prevents the manager from being assured that the staff are fulfilling their duties and responsibilities. It also prevents the manager from having documented evidence that shortfalls in practice have been Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 5 formally addressed. Some staff report feeling more supported by the manager than others. Some staff have declined to sign their supervision records. This is because they do not feel that these are an accurate reflection of the discussions held with their supervisor.

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good

The manager has not completed the required management qualification in the specified timescale. The senior management team follows their investigation procedures when a shortfall such as this is identified. Appropriate steps are taken to address these shortfalls in a timely manner, such as development and training opportunities, and, where required, disciplinary action is taken. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 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 that staff—

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all risk assessments and safety plans for each child are up to date and do not contradict each other, and that staff know and understand the children’s risks and strategies to mitigate these. 15 June 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— 15 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(a)(b)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

If the registered person considers it necessary for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of a child, the registered person may impose conditions, prohibitions or restrictions upon a child’s—

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Requirement Due date

contact with parents, friends or relatives, or

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Requirement Due date

access to communications under paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

No measure may be imposed by the registered person under paragraph (5) unless—

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents to the imposition of the measure; or

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Requirement Due date

the measure is imposed in an emergency, and full details are given to the placing authority within 24 hours of its imposition. (Regulation 22 (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b)) 15 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 8 In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff do not access a child’s mobile phone to listen to its contents unless there are safeguarding reasons which have been agreed by a person with parental responsibility.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the living-room door is not locked except for safeguarding purposes, in which case this must be risk-assessed and kept under review. 15 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)c)) 15 June 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 9 response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  The registered manager should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, the registered person should ensure that

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Recommendations

records accurately reflect events documented, including the actions taken by the staff. The registered person should ensure that staff use language that cares in children’s case records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4).  The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the children’s bathrooms are hygienic, and children’s bedrooms are clean. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that records are kept of the administration of all medication, including occasions when prescribed medication is refused. Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. These are

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Recommendations

fundamentally the same sorts of arrangements as a good parent would make but are subject to additional safeguards. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should ensure that managers working in the home have the qualification in regulation 28(2) within the relevant timescales listed in regulation 28(3). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12)

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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: SC472795 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Artemis Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Queens Lane, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland NE1 1RN

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Inspector

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472795 11 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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