Children's home run by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 1 SC034108 Registered provider: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides long-term and short break care for up to six children who may have physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since July 2022. A manager has been recruited and has applied for registration with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children are living in the home long-term. Five children have access to the short breaks service. Two children were staying at the home for short breaks during this this inspection.

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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: 12 October 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/10/2022 Full Good 15/12/2021 Full Good 14/11/2019 Full Good 09/05/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive nurturing and individualised care from a core group of staff who know each child well. Children’s positive experiences of living in the home and the quality of care they receive from staff enhances their lives. All children have made progress since coming to live at the home. One child said: ‘I’d be gutted to leave here. I’d miss everyone so much.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who visit the home for short breaks are offered a range of experiences which meet their needs. Children and families benefit from the consistency of regular stays that fit in with children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children new to the home are able to receive information in different formats. A new talking children’s guide has recently been produced. This gives children an alternative way to learn about the home and the care they will receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children, including those with barriers to verbal communication, are consulted about their care. Children’s meetings and one-to-one time with children and staff take place regularly. Children are provided with opportunities to influence their home and their lives. One child, who is non-verbal, recently chose the new paint colour for his bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to lead active lives. Children make regular use of local authority provision for children with additional needs. As a result, children are involved in swimming, cycling and youth clubs locally, which helps them build confidence, stay healthy and improve their social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are in full-time specialist education that meets their needs. There is good communication with education staff, and staff in the home contribute to children’s education planning meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Work undertaken to support children to move into appropriate adult provision is well-considered. Children are supported to understand the changes to their lives through pictorial social stories which meet their communication needs. Staff work closely with adult social care staff to share information and make sure children move on in a positive manner.

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

Written information is child-centred and provides staff with a good understanding of children’s needs. Assessments and plans are reviewed regularly and updated after any significant changes. Detailed and up-to-date written information about children supports staff to provide safe and effective care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 4 Staff are skilled in caring for children with complex health needs. One child has regular seizures, which have a significant impact on their well-being. Staff work closely with specialist health professionals and share their comprehensive knowledge of the child in order to inform their health plans. Processes for the storage, recording and administration of medication are robust. Staff are suitably trained. As a result, medication is administered safely and in line with children’s prescribed needs. Most children living in the home long-term are subject to court orders which allow

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

deprivation of their liberty due to their additional and complex needs. These restrictions may involve additional oversight of children through the use of bedroom monitors, as well as the use of mechanical restraints such as backpacks for children when in the community.

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

While these restrictions are subject to annual review by the court, leaders and man- agers do not have systems in place for more regular review outside of the court arena. This means there is no frequent evaluation of the continued need for these restrictions, in order to take into consideration any changes to children’s levels of need.

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

Staff provide nurturing care to children. This helps children to feel safe and to build trusting relationships. Positive behaviour is encouraged. There has only been one incident of staff needing to hold a child as a safeguarding measure since the last inspection. This took place in the local community and was effectively managed by staff, with oversight from the manager.

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good

The registered manager post has been vacant since July 2022. The deputy manager has been appointed to the role of interim manager. She has applied for registration with Ofsted. The manager is supported by the responsible individual, who was the previous manager. They work well together and know the children and staff well.

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good

A core staff team has provided continuity of care to children. However, there is a high level of sickness absence in the wider staff team. This is having an adverse impact on the permanent staff who remain in work and have to work alongside a range of non-permanent staff on a regular basis. The responsible individual is aware of the impact on children and staff and is working to resolve this issue.

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good

Staff have access to a range of training, which supports them to undertake their role effectively. Although staff are frequently caring for children with autism, training to support their skills and understanding is only available through e-learning. Staff are not receiving the face-to-face specialist training which limits opportunities for them to further develop their existing knowledge and practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 5 All staff receive regular supervision of their practice. The quality of this supervision is variable. Some supervision records contain information which has been duplicated from previous meetings. Not all supervision meetings include a discussion about the progress and experience of children. There are good systems in place for the supervision of non-permanent staff led by a senior residential worker in the team. This provides these staff with support and challenge and contributes to the quality

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good

of their care of children. Supervision is not being used consistently across the staff team as a tool to support and develop staff practice and promote the needs of children.

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good

The interim manager has not yet developed an effective system for monitoring and evaluation of practice in the home. The manager’s review of the quality of care report does not include the views of children, families and other stakeholders. This was a recommendation at the last inspection and has not been addressed.

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good

Until recently, monthly independent person visits to the home were being completed by local authority staff. This has now changed, and a new external provider is undertaking this role. This is an opportunity to strengthen oversight of practice and provides additional support and challenge for leaders and managers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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)(e)(h)) 30 September 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. 30 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 7 The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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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

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that supervision is used to discuss the progress and experience of children; that supervision records are be dated, with the duration of the meeting recorded; and that records are signed by the supervisor and supervisee. 30 September 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have specialist face-to-face training in relation to caring effectively for children with autism. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the use of monitoring devices in children’s bedrooms, and the use of mechanical restraints, such as backpacks, are subject to regular review and revised as appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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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: SC034108 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Market Street, Hyde, Tameside SK14 1AL

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tammy Sutherland

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034108 9 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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