Children's home run by Oracle Care Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 1 SC469686 Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may experience complex social and emotional difficulties and require attachment-aware and trauma-informed care and support.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 27 May 2021. She has an appropriate qualification and is suitably experienced.

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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: 13 December 2022

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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: SC469686 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2022 Full Good 09/03/2022 Full Good 03/09/2019 Full Good 21/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 3

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improvement to be good

There are two children currently living in the home. Since the previous inspection, staff have supported one child to have a positive move out of the home and one child has moved in. Staff are caring and children benefit from an established staff team. However, progress for the children is mixed.

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improvement to be good

Communication between staff is not always effective. This means staff do not always use consistent strategies to support the children with their behaviour and in their relationships with others. This has a negative effect on the quality of the children’s day-to-day experiences.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always provide support in accordance with children’s care plans. For example, staff are not clear about how one child should be supported to improve their independent living skills. This means the child is not achieving their full potential in this area.

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improvement to be good

Children’s education outcomes and progress are mixed. One child is progressing well in education. A school staff member said, ‘[Name of child] has done a year’s worth of maths in a month.’ Staff recognise one child is not achieving their educational potential, but there is no clear plan in place to improve the child’s progress in this area.

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improvement to be good

Children are given opportunities to express their views. However, staff are not very creative about how they do this and so children do not always engage with them. This means opportunities may be lost to obtain children’s views about how staff can support their needs better.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to try new experiences by taking part in a range of activities. Holidays and days out are planned with the children.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between staff and health professionals are effective and children receive adequate support to maintain their health. Children have the option to access a therapist on a regular basis. One child who struggled to attend her planned sessions is now happy to attend and looks forward to her appointments.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to keep in touch with people who are important to them. For example, a member of staff explained the importance of one child’s relationship with a family member who is currently ill. They have made sure that the child can maintain this important relationship, by being flexible to fit in with the family member. This demonstrates the commitment of staff to improve children’s well- being. Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 4

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improvement to be good

Children feel safe living at the home and there has been an overall reduction in incidents which put children’s safety at risk. However, risks to children’s safety and risks in the environment are not always identified and assessed. For example, following one incident at the home, a potential hazard was not identified. The risk of harm to the child continued because of a lack of guidance for staff about how to reduce the risk of a similar incident reoccurring. Staff took action to reduce the risk during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

The children get on well but are not aways respectful of each other and there have been instances of bullying and aggression. Staff have identified these areas of risk and are working to support the children with their behaviours and boundary-setting. However, staff are not always working in a consistent way to support the children, which means expectations about their behaviour are not clear.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always follow protocols when children go missing from the home. For example, staff did not report a child missing to the authorities within the timescale specified in their individual protocol. This means children may be placed at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

On one occasion when a low-level concern was reported, staff did not follow the home’s safeguarding policy. The required referral was not made to the local authority following a safeguarding incident involving a member of staff. This means staff do not consistently follow the home’s policy. However, appropriate action was taken with the member of staff and the child was safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always administer medicines as prescribed. One child was prescribed a medicine to take for four weeks. However, staff had not updated the medicine administration record accurately. As a result, it is not clear if the child received the prescribed medication or not, or if there was a negative impact on their health.

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improvement to be good

One member of staff has been recruited to work at the home since the previous inspection. The manager ensures that staff are safely recruited. This means background checks have been made to determine staff are suitable to work safely with children.

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good

The manager is aware of the areas for development in the home. The manager acknowledges the shortfalls and is determined to rectify those identified during this inspection. Staff speak well of their manager and the support they receive. Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 5 Monitoring systems are not effective, as they do not support the manager to find shortfalls in practice. This contributes to a delay in improvements being made. For example, there were hazards in the home’s environment, including the garden, at the time of the inspection. No action had been taken to report or act to remove the hazards. However, once the inspectors brought this to the attention of the manager, immediate action was taken to remove all the hazards that presented a risk.

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good

Permanent staff have regular supervision and have received an annual appraisal. However, not all non-permanent staff have received supervision since the last inspection. This hinders improvement in staff practice and development.

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good

The manager did not inform Ofsted when a child called the police to the home and when there were concerns raised about the conduct of a member of staff. The lack of timely information-sharing impacts on any follow-up action that may be required by the regulator.

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good

Four requirements and one recommendation have been raised following this inspection. Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 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 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

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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that children’s risk assessments provide staff with guidance on 22 September Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 7 how to identify, reduce and respond to children’s behaviour and risks.

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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

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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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

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)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager ensuring that there are effective monitoring and review systems in place to review and improve the quality of care provided for children. 22 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that non-permanent staff receive supervision from the registered manager or delegated person on a regular basis. 22 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— 22 September Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 8 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(b))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that prescribed medicines are only administered to the individual for whom they are prescribed. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. Records must be kept of the administration of all medication, which includes 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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: SC469686 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspectors

Michelle Spruce, Social Care Inspector Virginia Vickers, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC469686 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 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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