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

Inspection report for children's home: SC408513 1 SC408513 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 privately run home is registered to provide care for up to three children. The home’s statement of purpose describes the care as being for children with complex social, emotional and behavioural needs who require attachment-aware, trauma- informed care.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is experienced and holds the relevant qualification.

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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 good

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good

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

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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: SC408513 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2022 Full Good 01/09/2021 Full Good 02/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC408513 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home make positive progress due to the stable, nurturing and consistent care they receive. Children and staff referred to the home as a family. One child said, ‘They actually want to help you, it’s not just a job.’ Another child said, ‘I really like it here. I want to stay.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child’s plan is to move to semi-independent supported accommodation. Staff have been proactive in preparing the child for the move. Staff and the child have visited potential new homes together to ensure that they are able to meet the child’s needs. This is helping the child to feel well supported and positive about the planned move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Plans are in place to support children to take ownership of daily tasks such as making their beds and washing their own clothes. This provides children with opportunities to develop the basic skills they will need as adults. One child is being supported to manage a budget as part of their plans to live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are accessing school and making progress. One child has completed their GCSEs and is now awaiting their results. Staff challenged one child’s local authority to ensure that the child was able to access the required education. Staff are fully aware of children’s educational targets and work with children to help them achieve these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take swift action to support children with their health needs and, when needed, support them to access any required treatment or services. Staff manage the health needs of children in a sensitive way, which encourages children to access the support that they are being offered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff’s understanding of children’s needs helps them to think of creative ways to support children. For example, staff identified that one child struggled with toileting. Staff took part in a workshop to consider ways in which to overcome this. Staff used the learning from this to use a specialised storybook with the child. This was successful and has helped the child make progress with their toileting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff’s positive and nurturing approach has helped them to develop good relationships with children. As a result, children trust staff and feel that they can talk to them about their worries. One child has been able to share information about events that they experienced before moving into the home. Staff have taken appropriate action in response to the information that was shared.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make happy memories. Children go on lots of days out and do lots of enjoyable activities. In addition, children go on holidays, sometimes abroad. During the inspection, staff were seen being playful with children, which helps children to feel relaxed and happy living in the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC408513 4 Since the last inspection, improvements have been made to the home environment, including the redecoration of the bathrooms. During this inspection, new flooring was fitted in the kitchen area. Despite these improvements, the home continues to look tired and worn in some areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has identified that further redecoration of the home is needed, including the replacement of carpets, changing of some radiators and repair to external facias. Although improvement work is planned, some of which was agreed during the inspection, these improvements are slow in being implemented.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In one child’s bedroom clothes are kept in a pile at the bottom of wardrobe. This undermines staff’s efforts to provide the child with nurturing care.

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

Risks are identified, understood and managed well by staff. Managers and staff work closely with the provider’s clinical team to develop the strategies needed to manage children’s behaviours and known risks. This ensures that there is an individualised approach to safeguarding children.

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

Staff successfully manage children’s behaviours but continually reflect on how they can adapt and improve their approach. Staff use team meetings and other forums to consider what is working well and what could be done differently. A member of the provider’s clinical team said that staff are always striving to do better for children.

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

Physical interventions are used as a last resort and have only been used to keep children or those around them safe. Incident records are generally clear and well recorded. The registered manager acted during the inspection to further improve how staff record the types of physical intervention holds used. In addition, the provider updated their behaviour management policy to better reflect their approach to completing debriefs with children following physical interventions.

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

Bedroom door alarms are used in the home. The use of this monitoring system has not been kept under review to ensure that it remains necessary and proportionate. This means that in some cases the bedroom door alarms are being used for children who do not need them, and the alarms are sometimes activated during the day when they are assessed as only being needed at night.

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

Children do not go missing, however, there is clear guidance in place should this change. Immediate action is taken when allegations are reported. The local authority designated officer and other external professionals are contacted to ensure a multi-agency approach.

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

Children are supported to understand risks and have been supported to learn and understand how to stay safe. Staff recognised some children were fearful of the police. To overcome this, staff have invited the police to come into the home on a Inspection report for children's home: SC408513 5 regular basis so that children better understand the role of the police. This has been successful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a strong leader and supports her staff to help children make progress. She has high expectations of her staff and provides them with the guidance needed to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is supportive of staff’s development and works with staff to identify opportunities for them to learn. This includes giving staff ownership of certain aspects of children’s care. For example, one staff member has recently become the lead for children’s education, and they are enthusiastic about this role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has clear oversight of staff training. Staff undertake a range of training, including research-informed workshops. The influence of research-based practice, some of which is in its infancy, is beginning to be embedded in staff’s day- to-day practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision sessions. They feel well supported and have time to reflect. Staff enjoy working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are empowered to challenge partner agencies to ensure that the children’s needs are met. The registered manager is also a strong advocate for children and has successful challenged delays in one child receiving specialist support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are not allowed to use their personal mobile phones when working. However, there has been a delay in providing staff with enough work mobile phones. The registered manager was aware of this shortfall but there had been a delay in senior managers authorising the purchase of new phones. During the inspection, new phones were bought. Inspection report for children's home: SC408513 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home looks cared for and is a homely environment for children to live in. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the use of bedroom door alarms is kept under regular review, based on the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: SC408513 7

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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

Alexandra Pearson, Social Care Inspector Paul Robinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC408513 8 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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