Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 1 SC456798 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

This privately owned home provides care for one child who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child 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 in post since 22 November 2022. There is an interim manager in post who has submitted her application to register with Ofsted. The interim manager also manages another home in the company.

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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: SC456798 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2022 Full Good 08/03/2022 Full Good 18/07/2019 Full Good 06/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 3

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improvement to be good

One child lives in the home and has lived there since the last inspection. The child is positive about the care she receives from staff and her experiences of living in the home. The child has positive relationships with staff and says she can talk to them about any worries or concerns that she may have.

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improvement to be good

Inconsistent management arrangements have impacted on the child’s overall progress and experiences because it is not evident that leaders and staff have consistently understood how to develop the child’s care to ensure that she is achieving her full potential.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the child’s overall experiences and the quality of care she receives have improved. Leaders and staff have been more effective in working together to support the child. Observations of the child’s relationships with staff demonstrate these positive improvements.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to attend health appointments and encourage her to make choices that promote a healthy lifestyle. The child is supported to engage with professionals regarding her emotional well-being. Staff are developing their understanding of the child’s individual needs through support from the company’s clinical psychologist. However, inconsistent management arrangements impacted on the child receiving this support in a timely way.

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improvement to be good

The child says she enjoys school, and she is making progress in her education. The interim manager has started to work collaboratively with education providers. Staff provide the child with learning activities and opportunities.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to maintain contact with people in her life. This helps the child to maintain relationships with people who are important to her. The child’s parent told the inspector that her child is happy living at the home, where she is making progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff provide leisure activities, including horse-riding, youth clubs and visits to the cinema, amusement parks and other attractions, such as a waxworks museum. This provides the child with opportunities to spend some time away from the home.

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improvement to be good

The child has toys, books and activities around the home that she enjoys using. The child’s bedroom is personalised, and she can display her achievements, awards and photos throughout the home. The child has planned the decor for the ‘chill out room’ and is looking forward to this being completed.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 4 Staff have a good understanding of the child’s vulnerabilities. There has been a significant improvement in the quality of the information in the child’s plans. The child’s plans provide detailed guidance for staff to follow in practice.

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improvement to be good

The child says that she can talk to staff about any worries, which helps staff to support her to stay safe. The child’s social worker said, ‘Staff do work incredibly hard to ensure [name of child] is kept safe, is happy and settled within the home. [Name of child] has become a lot more independent and is just beginning to verbalise her own insecurities, worries and feelings instead of showing this through her behaviour.’

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improvement to be good

The staff team generally manages incidents well to ensure that the child is safe when she is in crisis. However, there have been two incidents when staff contacted the police as they could not manage these situations. The interim manager has identified this as an area for development, and the staff team has received additional training and opportunities to reflect and talk about how it can manage incidents better.

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improvement to be good

Physical restraint is used as a last resort to keep the child safe. This is appropriate and proportionate. Before the interim manager took over, records of physical restraint were not consistently completed by staff, opportunities for staff and children to reflect on incidents were not in place and management oversight was poor. This prevented reflective practice and limited learning from incidents. The interim manager has identified this issue and implemented new processes to improve practice in this area.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the child has not been missing from home. However, staff have clear strategies to follow in practice if the child does go missing from home.

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improvement to be good

Staff have started to talk to the child about any potential risks to her safety, for example with topics such as positive relationships, online safety, health and well- being. However, records do not demonstrate what specific support is provided to the child.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that medication is stored safely, recorded carefully and correctly administered. This helps the child to stay safe and supports her health and emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

One staff member has been recruited since the last inspection. Safe recruitment processes were followed for this member of staff. This promotes safe working practices and minimises any potential risks to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 5

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good

Since the last inspection, the previous manager has left the home. The current interim manager has been in post since March 2023. She is experienced and qualified. She has been able to quickly identify areas for improvement. However, there has not been sufficient time for these to be fully embedded in practice.

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good

There are areas of the home that need repairing, including walls that need repainting, kitchen cupboards that need replacing, a stair carpet that is damaged and holes in the bathroom walls. These issues have been reported by the interim manager to the maintenance team, but there has not been a timely response. This does not ensure that the child lives in a homely environment.

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good

Management oversight in the home is improving. However, children’s records need to include more robust oversight to ensure that leaders and the manager continually review the quality of care provided to the child. There has been a delay in leaders and the manager ensuring that all relevant and up-to-date documents are in place for the child. This means that staff do not have the most up-to-date information relating to the child so they can help her reach her full potential.

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good

Staff say that they feel supported by the interim manager. There have been improvements in the support that staff receive since the interim manager has been in place. Supervision was not taking place regularly to enable staff to reflect and develop their practice. However, supervision is now taking place regularly and in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Records demonstrate that supervision provides staff with opportunities to reflect on their practice.

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good

Staff receive training that is relevant to the needs of the child, such as training on attachment and trauma provided by the home’s clinical psychologist. This is helping to increase their understanding in this area. Professionals report that the staff team is eager to learn and develop; however, this is an ongoing area of development for the team.

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good

The interim manager makes use of internal and external monitoring systems to improve practice in the home. However, the quality of care review completed by the previous manager did not consider the strengths and weaknesses or the quality of care provided. This prevents effective monitoring, review and evaluation of the care provided to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home is decorated and furnished to a good standard and that any damage to the property is fixed in a timely manner. 11 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—

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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— 11 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 7 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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is a consistent staff team that is skilled and experienced to meet the needs of the child.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff are supported to develop their skills through training that is relevant to children’s individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the child; 11 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 8 details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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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; 11 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 9 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.

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Requirement Due date

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”).

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Requirement Due date

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) (3) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the report is underpinned by the quality standards, that the home’s strengths and weaknesses are identified and that it includes an action plan of how any improvements or shortfalls will be addressed.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all children receive proactive direct work to help them understand how to keep themselves safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that children’s records are signed and dated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: SC456798 10

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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

Jenni Gadsby, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC456798 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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