Children's home run by Flourish (Gloucestershire) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2682317 1 Registered provider: Flourish Gloucestershire 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 by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since October 2023 and is working towards a level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children lived at the home.

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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: 2682317 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2682317 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy. Staff understand the needs of each child and their communication preferences. This supports children to enjoy positive relationships with staff. Regular reviews of the communication systems available to children help to ensure that their communication skills are enhanced. Individual communication books help children to engage more effectively with the people around them. Children are supported to share their views, wishes and feelings regularly. This helps them to feel a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff communicate regularly with education professionals to ensure that the needs of children are met. Online systems allow information to be shared promptly between the home and school. Children are making good progress with their learning, including becoming more independent. For example, one child is learning cooking skills at school. Staff at the home have purchased similar equipment to ensure that this child’s skills can be further developed at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have the opportunity to engage in fun activities with the staff team. Children enjoy activities in the home, such as water play, playing the keyboard and watching videos with staff. Children have visited a themed amusement park and a farm in keeping with their interests. As a result, children enjoy social experiences that enhance their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders advocate well to ensure that children’s health needs are met. As a result, further investigations have been made available for one child who has an ongoing health issue. Children who came to the home with little experience of attending health appointments are now happy to attend regular appointments at the opticians, dentist and doctors with the support of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming. Children enjoy spending time exploring sensory areas around the home. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual tastes. The home environment is safe and well maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Other professionals are positive about the care and support provided to children. A social worker said, ‘It has been the most instrumental change in their life going into that home. It has brought them all the consistency, and they are flourishing in their care.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with nutritious meals. However, bread products were observed to be out of date. The manager responded swiftly during the inspection and ensured a full audit of foodstuff. This demonstrated that this was an isolated concern. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682317 4

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

Children’s individual risk management plans and missing-from-care protocols are clear and detailed. Information is updated following any changes or incidents and is shared with staff. This helps to ensure that staff have up-to-date information about children’s care and support needs.

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

Managers and staff have acted promptly and thoughtfully in response to one child showing more challenging behaviours during the evenings, identifying that behaviours could be linked to the child not feeling comfortable with their bedroom space. In consultation with the child’s social worker, staff have supported the child to try out different bedrooms to review which one they would be more comfortable in. As a result, this child has found a bedroom that is more suitable for their needs, which has reduced incidents.

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

When staff need to hold children for safety reasons, this is done with care. The manager reviews incidents in a timely manner to ensure that staff practice mirrors the guidance in children’s plans. Children and staff receive debriefs, and there is follow-up work to ensure that positive relationships are maintained between children and staff.

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

When a child has left the home without permission, this has generally been managed well by staff responding promptly and following the child’s risk management plans. However, on one occasion when the staff did not work with a child in line with their risk management plan, the manager undertook an in-depth review of the situation. The learning from this has been used to develop the team’s knowledge and understanding about how to reduce the risk that a child can leave the home and how to respond appropriately to incidents. This helps children to be safer.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been two medication errors that have been professionally managed. Due to the manager’s robust auditing systems, medication errors have been swiftly identified. Leaders have completed investigations that have enabled staff to learn from the concern. The manager has carried out team reflections around medication management, and staff competency assessments have been reviewed to reduce the risk of further error.

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

There have been no complaints. Children are well supported to share any concerns they have.

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

Staff are safely recruited before they start to work in the home. This increases children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed and dedicated to improving children’s outcomes. She has a clear vision for children to have a family-orientated experience of living in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2682317 5 home. Staff speak positively about the level of support that they receive from the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a good induction into their role and responsibilities. This includes a range of training focused on the needs of children who have a disability. Staff also receive bespoke training, including on epilepsy and communication, to help them provide the right support to each child. The manager also carries out additional research to support with the quality of care. However, the expectations regarding staff using mobile phones and camera phones while at work are not clear. During the inspection, the registered manager and responsible individual acknowledged this and were eager to ensure that this was addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular high-quality supervision that is child-focused and explores professional development and staff well-being. Staff find value in the one-to-one time they spend with the manager, and they are comfortable raising any issues that they have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective monitoring systems in place. She ensures that a monthly audit is completed that gives her a good oversight of the children’s plans, health and education updates, staff training and safeguarding. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682317 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home complies with relevant health and safety legislations, such as with alarms and food hygiene. This specifically relates to ensuring that food is regularly checked to ensure that it is safe to consume. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should prepare and implement a policy setting out clear procedures for staff in relation to using their personal phones for all uses while providing care to children, including personal care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.9)

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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: 2682317 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Flourish Gloucestershire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 27 Westend Office Suites, Westend, Stonehouse GL10 3FA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Summers

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Inspector

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2682317 8 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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Inspector

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