Children's home run by North East Autism Society

Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 1 Registered provider: North East Autism Society Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private organisation and is governed by a board of trustees. The home can care for up to four children of any gender, aged four to 18 years old, who have emotional and/or social difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

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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: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 3

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls identified in how well children are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers mean that children’s overall experience and progress are not yet consistently good.

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improvement to be good

Children are happy and settled. Staff provide individualised support, and this is helping children to make progress in different aspects of their development. Staff are patient with children and take the time that is needed to build trusted relationships with them. This helps to ensure that children are settled, feel at ease and are comfortable in the home. However, at times the registered manager makes decisions about children’s care based on the availability of staff. This impacts on the experience children living in this home have.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to actively make decisions about their care. One child asked to learn how to use a knife and fork, and staff are supporting them to do this. This helps to increase children’s confidence and self-care skills. However, one child did not have access to an independent advocate. The child’s social worker agreed that this child would benefit this. This would give the child increased opportunities for his voice to be heard.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend all health appointments, ensuring that children’s complex health needs are met. When required, staff support children with their medication, toileting, washing and daily care. This means that children’s health needs are closely monitored and that they are encouraged to be as healthy as possible.

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improvement to be good

Children living in this home attend education. On days when children say that they do not want to go to school, staff encourage them to attend. Staff value the importance of education. One education professional said, ‘They [the school] have a good relationship with the home.’ This helps children to achieve their full educational potential.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to spend time with their family. Parents feel confident that their child is being looked after by staff who care about them. One parent said, ‘They are tremendous with [name of child].’ This helps children to maintain positive relationships with people who are most important to them.

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improvement to be good

Some areas of the home are welcoming for children. The child’s bedroom has been personalised and artwork and pictures are displayed in the kitchen. However other communal areas lack personalisation. The computer is housed in a metal case which is not in keeping with the home. The registered manager has plans to display more photos and pictures in line with the children’s sensory needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 4

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improvement to be good

One child’s care is not always delivered in accordance with the local authority’s care plan and the home’s risk assessment. The registered manager does not therefore provide staff with consistent direction to ensure that the level of care provided keeps the child safe.

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improvement to be good

Not all areas of the home are free from hazards. One child is restricted to doing forward rolls in his carpeted bedroom to reduce risk of injury from harder floor surfaces in communal areas of the house. The garden is currently unsafe for the children to use, especially for children who are unsteady on their feet. The house and gardens have not been adapted to meet the individual needs of children living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Physical interventions are minimal and only used when needed to keep the children safe. However, with most incidents, children are debriefed by the member of staff who held them. This does not provide the child with the opportunity to share any concerns they may have or enable staff to learn how to reduce the risk of future incidents.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to understand the world around them and how to keep themselves as safe as possible. One staff member was observed to be very patient with a child, supporting them to understand how to walk as safely as possible without aids. The child was reassured, and the repetition of ‘feet forward, eyes forward, slow and steady,’ helped the child to remain balanced when walking. This helps to increase children’s confidence and improves their well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children do not go missing from this home. However, if a child was to go missing, there are protocols in place to ensure that all professionals are notified and that action is taken to find the child as quickly as possible.

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good

Management monitoring systems have not been successful in identifying all shortfalls, such as discrepancies The child’s risk assessment, two records of physical intervention did not evidence that the child was debriefed by someone independent of the hold. This means that leaders and managers have not been successful in continuously reviewing the quality of care provided by the home.

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good

Staff say that they like working in this home. They say that they feel well supported by the managers. However, most staff say that staff recruitment is a concern for this home. Although the staff say that they are closely ‘bonded’ and ‘supportive’ of one another, some staff feel frustrated that they are not able to fulfil the role that they are employed to do, due to the number of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 5 One professional said, ‘It would be lovely for [name of child] to have more children there,’ but that ‘the home requires more staff first’. The manager is aware that staff recruitment is a concern, and regular recruitment drives are taking place. The manager is creative with staffing rotas, but further support is needed from leaders to resolve this issue.

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good

The home’s day-to-day running does not always meet the needs of all children. For example, one child can become anxious when waiting for staff handover and is encouraged to remain in his bedroom. This can result in the child becoming distressed and on one occasion staff held the child to prevent him from scratching himself. The registered manager does not consider changes necessary to ensure that staffing arrangements are led around the children’s needs. In addition, there are occasions when staff’s sleep in shifts cannot be covered, leaving one staff member in the home at night. This does not ensure that children are always safeguarded effectively.

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good

Reports by the home’s independent visitor have not been completed consistently. The manager has recognised this as a concern and has escalated this. The lack of these reports hinders the manager’s ability to implement lessons learned and sustain good practice.

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good

Managers ensure that staff supervision sessions and team meetings are held regularly. Staff say that managers are open with them. Managers keep them up to date with important issues about the children and the home. This has helped to create a staff team that is supportive of one another. One staff member said, ‘The team is our core strength, and this comes from the manager.’ This has resulted in a staff team that is willing to ‘help each other’. This benefits the children as they will feel that the staff caring for them are happy to be working with one another. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 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 outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the use of the outside space reflects children’s sensory needs and that children are provided with good-quality play equipment. 30 April 2023

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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

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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that 30 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 7 the home’s morning routine and staff handover meetings are designed in a way that meets the needs of the children. The registered person must ensure that the home is free from avoidable hazards.

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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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)) 30 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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 (3)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff are provided with a debrief, and that all children are offered a debrief from someone independent of the measure. 30 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children living in the home are supported to access advocacy support. Looked after children are entitled to an independent advocate to advise them and ensure they have the support needed Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 8 to express their views, wishes and feelings about their care and lives. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16)  The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulation 44) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in

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Recommendations

anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2682299 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Autism Society

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Lumley Court, Drum Industrial Estate, Chester- le-Street, County Durham DH2 1AN

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Inspector

Jo Birtwhistle, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2682299 10 regulates and 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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