Children's Home run by United Homes Group Ltd in Hillingdon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2717656 1 Registered provider: United Homes Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to four children aged between 10 and 17 years who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted on 20 June 2023. This is the first inspection since registration. There has been a registered manager in post since June 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of this inspection. The inspector spoke to both children.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2717656 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have their needs assessed before they move to the home. Staff plan their care and support to meet children’s individual needs. Staff help children to make progress in all aspects of their lives. A social worker for one child said they chose the home because of the interest that staff showed in children. Staff want to get to know the children and understand their interests and needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good care from staff. There are good relationships between staff and the children. Staff consider how they can support children to settle at the home and build trust. There are positive relationships between staff, family and other professionals. A family member of one of the children was happy. They liked how well staff work with them to achieve the best outcomes for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to provide feedback in different ways. This can happen in key-work sessions, children’s meetings and one-to-one sessions. It can also happen in general chats with the children. This helps children to feel they are listened to and trusted to contribute to the development of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children get support to take part in activities they enjoy. This keeps them from getting bored. It also helps develop children’s skills and interests. Staff plan activities with the children. They discuss what they want to do each week and record this on their timetables. For example, staff support a child who likes music production to go to a music studio. There is a piano at the home and the registered manager offers lessons if the children want to learn to play it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home values children attending school. This is so they can make good progress in their education. The registered manager is working with other professionals to ensure that all children attend school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children get the right support to meet their health needs. Managers and staff work well with others. They make sure that children can see health professionals when they feel unwell. The home promotes children’s well-being. A therapist helps children who might experience distress. They also support staff to improve their skills. This helps them provide effective support to children.

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

Children are safe and they receive care from staff who understand how to keep them safe. The therapist supports children to learn how to manage problems. Children can also speak with staff during key-work sessions.

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

Staff rarely use physical interventions at the home. Staff receive training to do this in a safe way. A member of staff’s handling of a recent incident raised concerns. The registered manager has been open and reported this to relevant agencies. He is Inspection report for children’s home: 2717656 3 working with other professionals to ensure that they review the incident. They are considering the child’s views and they will use any lessons from this to train all staff.

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

There are few incidents of concern at the home. However, sometimes children have not returned at agreed times when they have gone out. Staff show concern for the children’s welfare and safety. They contact children to check where they are and when they are returning. They keep detailed records of their efforts to help children to return home. Children get help to understand the risks of being away from home. They also get help to learn to manage their time away from home better.

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

The home is clean and tidy, and it offers a pleasant environment for children to live in. The registered manager and staff do regular checks in the home. This ensures that the home is safe for the children, staff and visitors.

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

Managers carry out necessary checks before new staff start working at the home. However, some records are not always up to date. They fail to show when staff started working at the home. It was also not clear if the manager checked that references were from the right people. However, no evidence shows that these omissions put children at risk. The manager is taking steps to improve their recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager understands what the home does well and what they need to improve. He is enthusiastic about their goal to provide good and supportive care to the children. Staff work well as a team so that children get the care and support they need. Family members and professionals said the home supports children well and they praised the caring approach of the registered manager and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good processes to help the registered manager to assess the quality of care at the home. The independent visitor supports this by providing feedback following their visits. A consultant provides further guidance to the managers and staff. The registered manager uses this to help him to develop the home. This promotes the provision of safe and nurturing care to the children. Some staff and children’s records were incomplete, but this did not impact the children’s care or safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are happy to work at the home and they feel well supported by managers. Managers ensure that staff have the right induction when they start working at the home. They also provide training and support to prepare them for their roles. This includes staff receiving training on how to manage medication well. A member of staff recognised that it is important to have the right knowledge and said the training provided is helpful in their work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular and effective supervision. They also have regular team meetings. The registered manager said planned workshops will further support Inspection report for children’s home: 2717656 4 staff’s learning. Managers said they will help staff to develop their skills in leadership. They will do this to encourage staff to develop for leadership roles. Inspection report for children’s home: 2717656 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. In particular, that staff complete records in full and these are updated promptly when information or guidance changes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that managers follow good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2717656 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: United Homes Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 211 Station Road, Harrow HA1 2TP

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Inspector

Thobekile Bandama, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2717656 7 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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Inspector

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