Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 1 Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority owns and runs this home. It provides care on a medium- or long- term basis for one child who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2019 and is suitably qualified.

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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: 31 January 2023

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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: 2517046 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2023 Full Good 22/06/2021 Full Outstanding 19/11/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 23/07/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has positive and trusting relationships with staff who the child can speak to about anything. The child said, ‘The staff are really good; I like them.’ The registered manager and staff are invested in the child who lives in the home and encourage them to achieve their goals and potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made good progress in education from their starting point. Alternative school arrangements were required as the child was not accessing a full curriculum. The registered manager and staff were proactive in challenging this so the child could attend school full time. This has now been put in place and 100% attendance has been achieved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged and supported to have meaningful and safe relationships with people who are important to them. The child’s views about this are listened to, with staff advocating for them so the arrangements can reflect their wishes and feelings. The child has regular time with family, which supports their understanding of their identity and promotes a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Routines in the home are structured to meet the child’s needs. There is a visual timetable that aids the child’s understanding of what is happening, which the child finds helpful. A family member of the child said, ‘The staff have set really good boundaries with [name of child], and they have good and established routines; this is why [name of child]’s behaviour is better.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to have new experiences and attend various after-school activities. They have several ‘memory books’ that document what they have achieved while living in the home. This provides the child with lasting reminders and memories of their time having fun and enjoying themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming, especially in the communal areas of the property and the child’s bedroom. However, there are some areas that look tired and would benefit from being refreshed to ensure there is a homely, clean feel throughout the home.

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

The registered manager and staff know how to appropriately safeguard children. They implement clear and consistent boundaries, which contribute to children feeling safe, which in turn means incidents in the home are rare.

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

The child living in the home does not go missing from the home. If this was to happen, the staff know how to respond appropriately and the correct documentation and guidance are in place to support this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 4 There is a diverse staff team that works in the home. There is always a suitable level of staff to provide safe care, and there is always a safe and trusted member of staff for the child to speak with.

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

There are detailed risk assessments in place that identify all known risks that affect children. However, there have been recent incidents involving new and unseen behaviours, and the risk assessments have not been updated to reflect and mitigate against these behaviours. This does not provide staff with the information and guidance they need to give safe care effectively.

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

Physical interventions to keep people safe are not used in this home, but staff know what to do should the need arise. However, the risk assessment for the child does not explicitly state which methods of physical intervention would be appropriate to use if necessary. This does not provide staff with the details they need to keep the child safe, should they need to.

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

Incidents rarely happen in the home. However, when they do happen, they are not documented in a consistent and concise way by staff. Information recorded is misleading, and risks are not accurately assessed. This causes inconsistency in staff practice and could lead to incidents not being dealt with appropriately.

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good

The registered manager is held in positive regard by staff, wider professionals and by the child. The registered manager has high expectations of staff and for the child. He is supportive of staff development, and he speaks positively about the staff and the care they provide.

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good

The registered manager has an ambitious vision for the home. He has embedded a model within the home that works well and has seen positive outcomes for children. He recognises the importance of having therapeutic support from a psychologist, and together they are developing how the staff and child will access additional therapeutic support. This will enhance the understanding and practice of staff, which will in turn benefit the child.

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good

The registered manager's oversight of important documents is inconsistent. Several documents, including risk assessments, records of significant events and information about behaviour management, have inaccurate information. Oversight by the registered manager is not thorough, which leads to inconsistencies in records.

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good

The registered manager has had an unforeseen period of absence from the home. Insufficient management arrangements were made during this time, which has meant that oversight of some important documents and records has been poor. It has also meant that very limited progress has been made relating to the shortfalls identified by Ofsted at the last inspection in January 2023. Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 5 The registered manager has not ensured that all staff have the specialist training required to meet the needs of the child. For one staff member, this means they do not have the knowledge and understanding of the child’s main health needs and how to provide safe and appropriate care based on these needs.

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good

Supervision of staff and the registered manager does not take place in line with the provider’s policy. There have been occasions when several members of staff have not had any formal supervision over consecutive months. Appropriate arrangements were not put in place when the registered manager was not present in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons 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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are updated to contain all known risks for children and give staff clear guidance. Ensure that all behaviour management measures are included and detailed as to what is appropriate to use with the child.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 7 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires, and leads a culture in relation to the home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their full 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager has systems in place to review documents and have thorough oversight of the service. There should be appropriate contingency plans in place to ensure this happens should the registered person be absent from the home for a prolonged period.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, supervision should take place at the frequency agreed within the home’s statement of purpose. There need to be appropriate contingency plans in place so that all staff get supervision, even if the registered person is away from the home. 31 October 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that staff have the relevant specialist training to be able to meet the needs of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12). Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 8  The registered provider should ensure that the information set out in the statement of purpose accurately shows staff training and qualifications and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. It should also be updated regularly to ensure it is accurate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4).  The registered provider should ensure that all areas of the home are clean and regularly maintained to provide a homely and nurturing environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 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: 2517046 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

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Children’s home details

Provider address: The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Gail McGann, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2517046 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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