Children's Home run by South West Complex Care Services in Cornwall

Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 1 Registered provider: South West Complex Care Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider of education and social care. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

p.1

Inspection date: 14 December 2023

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people, taking into account good

p.1

Inspection date: 14 December 2023

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

Inspection date: 14 December 2023

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

Inspection date: 14 December 2023

Date of last inspection: 7 December 2022

p.1

Inspection date: 14 December 2023

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

Inspection date: 14 December 2023

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/12/2022 Full Good 26/10/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are at the heart of practice in this home. Carers and managers speak positively and with passion about the children in their care. Children who live in this home have made exceptional progress from their starting points. This is because the carers and managers know the children well and understand their individual and complex needs. Carers ensure that children get the help and support they need when they need it the most. This is helping children to continue to make progress. For example, one child has progressed from needing a wheelchair to walking, and no longer requires the use of a harness. This is because carers consistently supported and encouraged the child to make progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have strong, trusting relationships with carers. When new carers come to work in this home, part of their induction includes learning about the children before they meet them and a gradual introduction to each child is put into place so that each child can build a relationship with that carer at their pace. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children achieve, carers celebrate and are proud of them. For example, one of the children can now cut vegetables and help to prepare dinner, and another has started to make choices without prompts from carers. Parents commented on how much carers love their child, which helps children to feel secure and settled.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are accessing education that is suitable for their needs. Managers and carers respond to individual children’s needs and when one child struggled with going to school, they liaised with other professionals and a reduced timetable was put into place which is in line with their needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have journals that act as picture diaries of their time at the home. Their journals provide children with a lifelong visual reminder of their time living in this home. They show all the fun activities that the children have enjoyed, their achievements, and time that they have spent with family and friends.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not enough has been done to address the recommendation made at the last inspection in respect of the environment. While there is a plan in place to improve the home, this covers all major work and does not address the lack of homeliness and attention required for the living spaces. This is not helped by the way the home is divided into separate living areas for each child. Children live separately to meet their complex needs. Some rooms are functional and sparse. The home lacks homely furnishings and there are no shared social spaces.

p.3

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

The children living in this home are kept safe by carers who understand their specific needs and ways of communicating. Carers are able to anticipate situations that might cause stress to the children and use strategies to avoid these in the first Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 4 instance. Guides and low-level physical interventions are used appropriately to keep children safe when they are displaying distress.

p.3

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

When children are involved in incidents, the circumstances of these are clearly recorded, and the manager has good oversight of them, which mean the children experience consistency of care. Conversations with children that take place following an incident are not always being recorded. However, children are supported to understand incidents and share their feelings. For example, a social story was used to help a child to understand what had happened.

p.4

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

Carers have good relationships with professionals and parents. However, one professional expressed a shortfall within recording and information sharing.

p.4

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

Not all of the current carers have taken part in a fire drill. Records of fire drills do not clarify how long it took to evacuate the children or if all children have been involved.

p.4

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

The arrangements for the safekeeping and administration of medication are mostly effective. Managers have put additional steps in place to have robust oversight when medication travels with children, when medication needs to be disposed of, and when children require new medication. One recent medication discrepancy was not identified, escalated and understood quickly enough. The manager has acknowledged this and is taking steps to reduce the risk of this happening again in the future.

p.4

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

Effective safer recruitment processes reduce the risk of unsuitable people working in the home. A recent recruitment drive has been successful and has ensured that the home is sufficiently staffed; work is underway to recruit further. No agency workers are used to care for children due to children’s complex needs and the need for continuity of care required.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have effective oversight of the home and understand the day-to-day needs of each child. Regular meetings between the managers take place to review and monitor the progress of the children, carers, and issues relating to the home. This helps to address issues quickly and recognise good practice. Managers know their strengths and areas for improvement well. Despite this, not all recommendations from the last inspection have been addressed, in particular the improvement of the environment.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers are supported and cared for by their managers and senior leaders. They are a collaborative and strong staff team, who have the children at the centre of their practice. Carers are provided with regular supervision. However, the quality of their supervision is inconsistent and does not always take place with the same manager. Supervision records are not always reflective in respect of the children and their needs, or suitably challenging. For example, when training and development needs or practice-related concerns are identified, the detail and actions required are not Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 5 always evident. In stronger examples, knowledge of the children’s needs is tested by the supervisor. Team meetings allow time for carers to reflect on their practice and undertake further training. It is difficult to see the impact of this learning for individual carers as supervision sessions do not capture these meetings.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide carers with relevant training courses, including specialist training, which helps carers to increase their skills and understand the individual needs of the children they care for. Newly appointed carers are provided with an appropriate induction, which initially takes place outside of the home while new carers are made familiar with the children’s needs. Not all the team have completed their safeguarding training. However, this has not impacted on the care or safety of the children. Training is complemented by the team meetings and a supportive, hands- on management team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, 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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. 31 January 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home provides a nurturing environment that meets the needs of its children; in most cases, this will be a homely, domestic environment. 30 March 2024

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 7

p.6

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: 2593054 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: South West Complex Care Services

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Thornleigh House, Chilsworthy, Gunnislake, Cornwall PL18 9PB

p.8

Inspector

Nickie Doney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2593054 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9