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

Inspection report for children's home: SC476286 1 SC476286 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 home is owned and operated by a large national provider. It provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is currently absent from the home. An interim manager has been appointed and they have applied to register with Ofsted. They were present throughout this inspection.

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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: SC476286 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/04/2022 Full Good 15/06/2021 Full Good 28/01/2020 Full Good 16/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC476286 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home, and three children have left. At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home. They spent time with the inspectors and gave their views. Children said that they are happy and feel safe and that they enjoy spending time with the staff caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with the staff team and each other. They are provided with nurturing and consistent care that helps them to feel safe and secure. Children benefit from consistent routines and boundaries and are settled as a result. All the children are making progress in all areas of their lives. Feedback from professionals is incredibly positive. A social worker said that their child ‘loves the home and never wants to leave’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have suitable education, have good attendance and are making progress. They have opportunities to participate in a range of activities at the home and in the community. Some children belong to clubs such as Beavers and dance clubs. This provides them with opportunities to develop skills and expand their friendship groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to stay in touch with people who are important to them. Staff help and support children with family time, which means children can maintain important family connections. Children have good relationships with each other and enjoy spending time together. This has led to children having several days out, which have been positive and created some nice memories for them. All the children have memory books with lots of photos that capture these activities. These will provide children with positive memories of their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are sought through a variety of ways. However, the manager has failed to respond to requests made in children’s meetings. This does not provide children with assurances that their views and wishes are heard and responded to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s plans are generally of a good quality but do not always reflect the information contained in other plans. Targets and outcomes from the local authority plan are not included in the home’s care plan. Some information is out of date, and in one child’s plans, the child was misgendered. This does not provide evidence of good management oversight and attention to detail. Children are not consulted with about their plans and do not have opportunities to give their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The statement of purpose says that the home offers therapeutic care. However, aspects of care that, according to the statement of purpose, should be delivered as standard are not. Although the manager was instrumental in advocating for a child to receive therapy, according to a professional spoken to their expectation was that Inspection report for children's home: SC476286 4 this was part of the standard offer rather than something that needed to be pursued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with a warm and welcoming home that has benefited from a programme of redecoration and refurbishment. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual tastes and reflect their interests. Children have rearranged some of the communal areas to provide more space for play and relaxation.

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

Allegations against staff have been well-managed. The manager has worked with external safeguarding professionals to investigate these concerns. All staff have undertaken the organisation’s mandatory safeguarding training. Staff are confident in their roles of reporting any child protection concerns and they understand the whistle-blowing policy.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. The use of physical intervention is rare. Staff are skilled at helping children to use more effective strategies when they are angry or upset. Staff use reflection with children to help them understand their feelings and emotions. This has led to a reduction in the number of incidents.

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

The children’s guide uses child-friendly pictures and information to help children understand who to speak to if they are worried or if they need support outside of the home.

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

Staff have assessed the risks of the internet and have measures in place to keep children safe online. The children’s use of the internet and technology is always monitored, and the children are aware of any restrictions.

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

Risk assessments do not always reflect known and recurring risks. For example, children have locked themselves in rooms together and locked staff out of the house. Management responses to these incidents have not been adequate in implementing measures to prevent recurrence, such as staff having easy access to keys when needed.

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

There is a lack of management oversight of records of incidents, including physical restraints. Some incident records do not contain all the relevant information. This prevents external professionals from having a clear overview. The manager has not provided an evaluation and oversight of some significant incidents. This reduces opportunities for learning and reflection to improve staff’s skills and responses. There is a lack of clarity in some reports, which means that they may not accurately reflect what staff said and did in response to children’s behaviour. Inspection report for children's home: SC476286 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is currently absent from the home. Suitable management arrangements are in place from the deputy manager. The interim manager is child- centred in their approach and is well-respected by the staff team. The interim manager is a positive role model for the staff team. Their approach to supporting staff and modelling nurturing care has had a positive impact on the children, who are now more settled. Staff describe feeling well-supported and valued and are committed to their roles at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular and reflective supervision and an annual appraisal. The interim manager has completed a skills analysis to identify areas for staff development to support them to further improve their knowledge and skills. The staff team is stable, and there has been minimal use of agency staff. This has helped with providing consistency to children and enabling positive relationships to be formed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager does not have clear oversight of all areas of the home, particularly of children’s plans and incidents. Quality assurance systems and external monitoring have not helped them to identify some shortfalls. This means that some information is lacking. For example, one child does not have an up-to-date care plan, and this has not been challenged with the relevant authority. The interim manager does not have a thorough understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home as they are new to this role. As a result, there is currently no clear development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff inductions do not always accurately reflect the induction set out in the workforce plan and the statement of purpose. Not all staff have received the specific therapeutic training, in line with the workforce plan before starting work. This has the potential to limit their understanding of the approaches being used and have a negative impact on consistency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of mandatory and specific training relevant to the children’s needs. The clinical team provides additional training through workshops. Some in-house training, such as fire induction, is not clearly recorded, and it is unclear as to whether staff have completed this. Inspection report for children's home: SC476286 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments reflect known risks to children. 1 March 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—

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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—

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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

In particular, ensure that— 1 March 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC476286 7 records of incidents, including physical intervention, are reviewed and evaluated to support better understanding of the impact of the quality of care provided and support learning and improvement;

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Requirement Due date

the oversight and monitoring of children’s plans provide sufficient scrutiny to support continuous improvement in the quality of care and standards of reports.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should escalate concerns about the lack of an up-to-date care plan with the relevant authority. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 11, paragraph 2.3)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted with regularly on their views about their care to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: SC476286 8

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Deborah Robertson-Kesterton

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Inspectors

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Anver Rose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC476286 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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