Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 1 SC047978 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. There were five children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since September 2022. An acting manager has been in post since January 2023 and has now submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 25 October 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/06/2021 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Good 04/07/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The overall experiences and progress for children are good. Staff develop strong relationships with children and understand their needs. One child said, ‘I’ve made loads of progress since I moved here with all the help and support from the staff.’ A social worker said, ‘[Name of child] has come on in leaps and bounds. They [staff] have done so well with her.’ These comments are testament to the progress that children make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend education, and there are positive links between staff and education professionals. This ensures that adults working and supporting the children are well informed about the children’s needs, and it helps the adults to provide better support and care to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm and homely environment, and most bedrooms are personalised to reflect the tastes and interests of children. Some children need the staff to help them keep their bedroom clean, tidy and a relaxing space. This support is readily provided by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with the support they need with their emotional well-being. The acting manager has been persistent in identifying the right services to undertake a specialist assessment for one child. This ensures that children are supported by required services, and it helps staff provide the appropriate care and support and helps them recognise when the children may require more specialist input.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s meetings are held regularly and include discussion about a range of topics, including ideas for meals and activities. Staff provide children with feedback from the previous week’s meeting. This helps children feel listened to and that their voices are heard and respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities and experiences in the home and community. Activities include the hobbies that children enjoy, such as trampolining, bowling and gymnastics. Children and staff contribute to the community by undertaking charity work. For example, the children and staff did a sponsored walk to raise money and bought gifts to take to children at the local hospital. This helps children feel proud of themselves and their achievements.

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

Individual risk assessments and support plans are sufficiently detailed. Information about previous worries and risks is recorded, and risk assessments are reviewed regularly. This helps staff understand how to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 4 When physical intervention is used, managers support the children and staff to reflect on the incident so that appropriate support is provided. There has been a significant decrease in incidents since the previous full inspection. Reflection helps staff consider what they could have done differently, developing their practice and improving the care provided to children.

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

Managers respond to complaints from children promptly and effectively. Managers write to children to acknowledge their complaint and provide feedback once the complaint has been addressed. This ensures that children feel listened to.

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

The location risk assessment identifies risks within the local and wider community. This enables staff to provide increased safeguarding support to children.

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

Medication is stored safely, and managers undertake regular audits of medication and the recordings completed by staff. Staff do not always record medication taken correctly. For example, there had been an error in the medication book that was not identified until a senior member of staff completed an audit. This error was addressed with staff and further discussed in a team meeting.

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good

There has been no registered manager at the home since September 2022. The acting manager in post does not yet have the required experience to register with Ofsted. In the interim, the responsible individual appointed a manager in January 2023 who plans to become the registered manager. There has been a significant delay in Ofsted receiving this application.

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good

Staff feel supported by managers and receive regular supervision. However, the records are brief and do not allow time for staff to reflect on their practice or experiences. One member of staff said, ‘They are completely pointless, repetitive and excessive.’ There is a lack of focus on staff well-being.

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good

Staff are not supported in developing their skills and knowledge through training. For example, key learning that is relevant to the children’s needs is not provided to all staff. There is one member of staff who has not completed the level 3 qualification in the required timescale. This does not ensure that staff have all the necessary skills to support children’s individual and complex needs.

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good

Managers have not notified Ofsted of a revised statement of purpose, despite several changes to this important document. Information about their current practice and staffing is out of date. This does not allow Ofsted to properly regulate the home.

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good

Managers complete monthly reflections that are used as a tool to support and develop the staff team. However, reflection is not consistent across all areas of practice. This impacts on staff developing their skills to improve the care provided to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 5 Staff feel well supported by the acting manager. She talks passionately about the children and the progress they are making. Staff have confidence in her leadership and vision for the home. One staff member said, ‘Management are really helpful and care deeply about the young people and their staff.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 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, The 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

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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;

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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)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that staff have completed all mandatory training and additional training that is specific to children’s individual needs. It also relates to ensuring robust quality assurance and monitoring systems are in place, used regularly and recorded. 4 August 2023

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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

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (2)(a)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to inconsistent reflective practice in supervision limiting staff’s ability to develop their skills. It also relates to ineffective supervision that does not consider 4 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 7 the individual needs of staff welfare and professional development.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all staff are registered on the diploma and complete this within the set timescale. 4 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to any revised statement of purpose being submitted to HMCI within 28 days. It also relates to ensuring the statement of purpose is quality assured for errors and that information in it is correct. 4 August 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff record medication correctly to avoid errors and clearly record when a child refuses medication. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15) Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 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: SC047978 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 20-21, Pullman Business Court, Mallard Way, Pride Park, Derby DE24 8GX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspectors

Kathryn Hurley, Social Care Inspector Emma Dacres, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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