Children's Home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Southampton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC389174 1 SC389174 Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private organisation and is registered to provide care for up to seven children with learning disabilities and physical disabilities. At the time of this inspection, five children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2023 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 requires improvement to be 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: SC389174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/03/2023 Full Good 20/01/2022 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Good 25/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC389174 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are caring, kind and nurturing towards the children. There is effective communication between them, and the staff speak about their care for the children with pride and ambition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One of the values of the home is for children to enjoy new and challenging experiences that they may have missed out on or not had the opportunity to do before. This is being achieved by children enjoying holidays, expanding their social lives and friendships, trying new activities and generally having fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are attending school or college full time and are making good progress. Targets from children’s education, health and care plans are linked to daily care plans. This helps the children to meet identified targets. For example, one child has made progress in their reading levels and is supported daily by staff to read.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have regular discussions with children about their wishes, goals and daily needs. This is to support the children’s development and independence and gives them an opportunity to express their feelings and build relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are plans in place to guide the staff on how to provide care and support to ensure that the children receive consistent care. However, some local authority records relating to delegation and consent are confusing and do not allow a level of delegated authority for some children’s care and daily activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have learning disabilities, some with additional complex healthcare needs. Children are supported to access regular check-ups and specialist support where needed. However, one child has not had access to routine dental care since moving to the home, due to local availability, and options to explore alternative arrangements are not yet in place.

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improvement to be good

The focus on positive behaviour support means that children are supported to express their emotions and learn how to communicate their feelings. This has led to a decrease in incidents for all children, and for one child, staff support has seen a reduction in their medication. This is a significant achievement for this child.

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improvement to be good

The children’s bedrooms are personalised, and there is plenty of communal space for them to relax and play. However, some areas of the home require improvement to ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard and that there is effective oversight of avoidable risks for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC389174 4 The registered manager has reported any safeguarding concerns to the relevant professionals and taken actions to safeguard children. However, where actions have been identified following investigations to improve staff practice or provide additional support, there are some shortfalls in demonstrating that this has been consistently carried out with staff.

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improvement to be good

There are suitable processes in place to ensure staff are safely recruited, so that only staff who are suitably vetted work with the children.

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improvement to be good

The staff support children well during their times of emotional difficulty. This means staff very rarely need to physically support children to be safer. The registered manager will talk to staff and children to reflect following any such incidents, and they ensure that records are reviewed and are accurate.

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in the arrangements for the safe storage of a child’s prescribed nutritional medicines. The registered manager did take action to rectify this during the inspection. All other arrangements for children’s medication are suitable. There are processes in place to ensure that children receive their daily medicines, and these are reviewed when necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a clear vision for the home. Changes in staff practice, training, the positive behaviour support strategies used and the model of care have had a positive impact on children. There is a plan to continue to improve the quality of care for children, including enhancing the environment and planning for children as they move into adulthood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The senior managers have good relationships with external professionals involved with children. Recent praise from the children’s mental health team recognised the work the staff achieved with one child in reducing their medication to support their behaviour. Another child’s social worker praised the dedicated staff team and the progress the child has made while living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are opportunities for the staff to develop professionally, and there is ample training provided for staff to enhance their skills and knowledge. This extends to all staff that children may see in their home. For example, the maintenance team undergoes similar training to the care staff, so they can be confident around the children and be aware of their safeguarding responsibilities as they go about their tasks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The senior managers and staff feel supported by each other, as a team, and by their direct managers. There is regular and supportive supervision, as well as the option for ad hoc supervision when needed. The staff and senior leaders meet regularly to have team meetings, and they have good communication systems in place to ensure that children receive care from a consistent team. Inspection report for children’s home: SC389174 5 There are suitable plans in place to mitigate risks for children. Staff speak confidently about how they keep children safe, and they give examples of supporting online safety and their safeguarding responsibilities. However, in one isolated incident, a child’s risk plan was not followed during a family visit. While this did not have an impact on the child, systems to review the scrutiny of plans and reflect with staff following this were not effective. This was a missed opportunity to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

review the effectiveness of the plan and staff practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC389174 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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that improvements are made to the environment and that children’s risk plans are followed by staff and reviewed following any incidents. 29 March 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)) 29 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

promotes their welfare. 29 March 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC389174 7 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the actions arising from safeguarding investigations are carried out to inform the quality of care provided for the children.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have a key role in organising and ensuring each child’s attendance at the necessary primary and secondary health services. If these services are not accessible, or are withdrawn, staff should inform and engage with those who also hold a responsibility for the child’s health to ensure their health needs are met under regulation 5, engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.11)  The registered provider should ensure that each child’s placement plan sets out the permissions that their placing authority has delegated to the registered person. This should provide clarity on the home’s ability to give permission for school trips, sleep-overs or the child’s involvement in sporting, leisure and cultural activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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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: SC389174 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Second Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Callard

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Inspector

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC389174 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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