Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to four children who have social, emotional and/or behavioural needs. At the time of the inspection, no children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous registered manager resigned from her role and left on 30 June 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a large private organisation, and the company employs its own clinical team.

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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 inadequate

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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: 10 January 2023

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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: 1236620 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2023 Full Good 21/09/2021 Full Good 10/07/2019 Full Good 12/11/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 3

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improvement to be good

The three children who were living in the home moved out within six weeks of the inspection. For most children, this was a planned and considered move at the right time for them, but one child was not ready to leave. However, a decision was made for all children to move due to there being insufficient management cover to meet children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Prior to moving, children visited their new homes with staff, and one child was able to return to the care of their parent, following a positive assessment. Full information was shared with the children’s new carers, to support them in meeting children’s needs effectively.

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improvement to be good

When children lived in the home, they formed positive relationships with most staff, which is a protective factor. One child spoken to confirmed this and said she had felt safe. Some children have continued to remain in contact with their previous staff, which has helped them cope with the transition. Most children attended education and were able to sit their GSCE exams.

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improvement to be good

Children were helped to see family where possible. Social workers spoken to during the inspection said that staff did their best to support children.

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improvement to be good

Not enough has been done to prevent children from going missing from care. A requirement made at the previous inspection under the protection of children standard is still not met. Instruction to staff about what actions to take and how to manage and reduce risk was not robust, detailed or realistic, for example in relation to the safe use of mobile phones. Consequently, effective follow through and progress was limited.

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improvement to be good

Although the home has access to therapy through the organisation’s internal professionals, it was not taken up sufficiently and so was of limited impact. This prevented children being supported to make positive changes in their lives. When children had health issues, responses were not consistent and led to children not being helped enough. This meant one child’s bedroom was not hygienic at times. Vaping should not have been happening in children’s bedrooms, and, while staff knew that it did, plans did not give adequate guidance to staff on how to manage this and limit any possible fire risk.

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improvement to be good

When children went missing from home and/or were at risk of being harmed, staff reacted by doing their best to keep children safe. This included following and searching for children, reporting them missing to the police and welcoming them on Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 4 their return. The responsible individual has escalated concerns to ensure that regular strategy meetings were held and to support the effectiveness of multi- agency communication.

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improvement to be good

Allegations and whistleblowing are taken seriously by the responsible individual and regional manager, who have taken action. Concerns have been investigated, leading to clear outcomes based on rationale. One case was delayed and poor information- sharing with the local area designated officer (LADO) had the potential to put children at risk. The organisation welcomed a training offer from the LADO to help managers increase their understanding of the role of the LADO.

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improvement to be good

When the organisation recruits internal staff to a new role, references are not routinely undertaken, due to the staff member being already known. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that managers are equipped with as much information as possible to ensure that children are safeguarded and staff are suitable for their new role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is currently without a manager and a deputy manager, and the staff team has been disbanded to work in other homes. Active recruitment is underway to appoint a new manager and deputy as soon as possible so that children can be admitted into the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight and monitoring has not been sufficiently robust or organised. The Regulation 45 report has not been completed, which would have been another means of reviewing the quality of care provided to children. While supervision for the previous manager and clinical staff has been undertaken, other staff, including new staff, have not had regular and effective supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

On some occasions, inexperienced staff were put in the position of caring for children without adequate support. For example, a new member of staff, who should have been in a shadowing role, was left alone to care for a child who was at high risk of going missing from care. This staff member could not understand the other staff member’s telephone instructions about how to care for the child, which led to this information being inappropriately relayed through the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management review of incidents does not provide evidence of consideration of what could have been done differently to help the team learn and improve the home. The responsible individual and regional manager have recognised concerns about the running of the home and have instigated a review of the period leading up to the children leaving the home, to consider learning for the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is spacious and has large garden areas. However, to ensure that the home is a welcoming and clean environment for children, further work needs to be carried out. Examples include work to improve the outdoor space so it is usable, which was a recommendation at the previous inspection, consideration of how the Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 5 office spaces are used, and improvements to the bathroom. The responsible individual had already identified these areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff found the organisation’s training to be helpful and feel they have benefited from their experiences of working in the organisation’s other homes and developing their skills. Staff spoken to cared about the children they looked after and had children’s best interests at heart. Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 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; and

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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)(b)) 2 October 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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each 2 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 7 child and use this understanding to inform the development

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Requirement Due date

of the quality of care provided in the home; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 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)(c)(d)(f)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a)) 2 October 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. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). The registered person must— supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report

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Requirement Due date

within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)) 21 September Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home, including the outside space, is a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of their children, and which will, in most cases, be a homely, domestic environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15 , paragraph 3.9)  As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment procedures are thorough and should consider requesting references when appointing internal staff to different roles, in order to safeguard children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 61 , paragraph 13.1)

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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: 1236620 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Sarah Canto, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1236620 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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