Children's home run by New Haven (Waterlooville) Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 1 Registered provider: New Haven (Waterlooville) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to four children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager and the home have been registered with Ofsted since November 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the last full inspection, in July 2023, when a judgement of inadequate was made, the provider was issued with two compliance notices, under regulation 12 and regulation 13. A monitoring visit took place in September 2023, when the compliance notices were deemed to be met. Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 3

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improvement to be good

Children are settled and enjoy living in the home. The home is well presented, clean and welcoming. All the children have personalised their bedrooms and say they like the en-suite facility, which offers them privacy and supports their individual needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff support some children to learn some independence skills. However, support for others is more variable. For example, staff have not provided one child with communication aids which may help them to be more independent. Another child has not received sufficient guidance or support to prepare them for when they leave the home. Therefore, some children’s progress is limited.

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improvement to be good

New or inexperienced staff are not yet established in their roles. Significant changes in the staff team mean that children have not yet been able to build trusted and secure relationships with staff who care for them daily. Nonetheless, the children have good relationships with senior managers, who are regularly present in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children are open and honest with senior managers in giving their views on the care they receive. The management team ensures that statutory meetings take place as necessary. However, only one child has access to an advocate. This prevents children’s voices being fully heard and children taking an active part in their care planning.

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improvement to be good

All children continue to make progress in their education. Staff actively support their attendance by driving them to and from school. Good communication between education staff and staff at the home ensures a consistent approach and helps children to achieve their academic goals.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met by staff who understand the importance of children receiving specialist health support. However, staff do not always proactively follow up appointments and referrals to ensure there is swift support when needed, for example, to improve children’s mental health.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake regular health and safety checks to ensure that children live in a safe environment. Not all new staff have taken part in a fire drill, however, staff are aware of what to do in an emergency and all children are familiar with the home’s evacuation procedure.

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improvement to be good

Senior leaders have been supporting the staff team to develop their knowledge of policies and procedures. However, not all staff know their responsibilities following Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 4 an allegation or disclosure. This risks a delay in safety measures being put in place to safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

There is a good system in place to ensure that risk assessments are read and understood by all staff. However, these assessments are not routinely updated when children display new behaviours. Therefore, staff are not always aware of new risks.

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improvement to be good

The senior leadership team has been successful in recent recruitment efforts. The home is now fully staffed. Staff said the induction programme is comprehensive and made them feel confident and equipped to start their first shift.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager does not always ensure that there are sufficient staff with the right skills, knowledge and experience on each shift, for example, with the appropriate expertise to administer medication. This was identified during the inspection and rectified swiftly to ensure that there was no risk to children.

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improvement to be good

All staff are appropriately trained in physical restraint. Incidents are generally well recorded. Following any use of physical intervention, the child’s view is sought through child-focused and timely reflective discussions. However, there is a delay in these incidents being reviewed by a manager. As a result, new behaviours had not been added to one child’s risk assessment.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint if they are unhappy about any aspect of their care. Complaints are taken seriously and investigated. However, children do not always receive feedback about the outcome of their complaint. As a result, there is a risk that children may not be confident that their voice has been fully heard.

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improvement to be good

Key-work sessions with children are child-focused and well recorded. Staff support children to learn about risks, inside and outside the home, including the risks associated with electronic devices and busy roads. Children were able to describe how to keep themselves safe near busy roads in the area. A shortfall in one child not having received road safety advice was swiftly addressed during the inspection.

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good

The senior leadership team provides significant oversight to the whole staff team. Recent improvements have yet to be sustained by the registered manager and new staff team. Nonetheless, the registered manager is committed to improving the service.

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good

Not all staff receive regular supervision. In addition, those staff who have progressed to senior positions have not had the opportunity to reflect and discuss their development. As a result, some staff do not feel confident in their new roles.

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good

The registered manager completes a shift rota in advance. Staff say this is helpful. However, the rota is not consistent with the provider’s own development plan. For example, it notes staff with a range of expertise and skills being on shift. However, Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 5 during the inspection it was found that all staff on shift were new to the home. This impacts on the quality of care provided if there are no experienced staff to supervise and guide those who are less experienced.

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good

The monitoring systems and quality assurance processes are not embedded in daily practice. These failed to identify shortfalls found during the inspection and are, therefore, ineffective. For example, some training records were found to be incomplete and monthly progress reports were not being sent to placing authorities.

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good

The senior leadership team and registered manager regularly review their own action plan. There is good oversight by the responsible individual, who gives positive direction and support to the whole staff team. This gives the registered manager the opportunity to further develop and scrutinise the quality of care provided, with continued direction from the leadership team.

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good

The responsible individual manages poor staff performance effectively and thoroughly. The leadership team has acted swiftly to address previous concerns and remedy the failings. As a result, staff morale is high and there is a sense of eagerness to get it right going forward.

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good

The independent visitor provides an additional level of scrutiny. The recent improvement in obtaining feedback from external professionals and children’s families has provided further insights. Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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 an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(d)(iii)) 28 February 2024

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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 that staff—

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vii)) 28 February 2024

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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— 28 February 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 7 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

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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

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

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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 (1)(b)) 30 March 2024

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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. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)) 28 February 2024

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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: 2686324 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Haven (Waterlooville) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Deansway, Worcester WR1 2JG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jacqueline Smeeth

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Inspector

Jill Sephton-Wright, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2686324 9 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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