Children's Home run by Westmorland and Furness Council in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 1 Registered provider: Westmorland and Furness Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority home that is registered to provide short breaks for up to six children who may have learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

This home opened in April 2023. This is the home’s first full inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This short-break service provides good-quality care for children with complex needs and disabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home at their own pace and through a series of tea visits. They are encouraged to talk about children who they like to spend time with. This helps staff to plan for children’s future stays. When children move on to adulthood, staff ensure that they support the children to manage these changes. For one child, a social story was completed to help her to understand her move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children stay in a welcoming, spacious home. It has a relaxed and homely atmosphere, which helps children to maintain a sense of calm and safety. The home is designed to meet the needs of the children and includes a fully equipped sensory room, ball pool, and outdoor play area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place the well-being of children at the centre of their practice. They know the children well. Children receive praise for the smallest of achievements. This is done by choosing a child to be ‘star of the month’. This celebrates children’s progress on their individual goals, which encourages them to do well and feel proud.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that children’s views, wishes and feelings are fully considered. This is a strength of the home. The use of ‘you said, we did’ ensures that children have opportunities to receive feedback from their requests. Additionally, during each child’s stay, conversations take place where they can share what they wish to do on their stays and other ideas for future stays. Children’s memories are captured and uploaded onto the home’s social media page.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in their independence. They are learning how to purchase items when shopping and daily life skills, such as cooking and preparing tea.

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

Professionals and parents say that the children are safe. One professional said, ‘Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding.’ They gave an example of how they took appropriate action following a recent concern.

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

The manager ensures that fire practices in the home are safe. Each child has an individual emergency evacuation plan that provides staff with details of the support that a child requires in the event of a fire. All staff are suitably trained in fire safety. Children regularly take part in fire evacuations and receive child-friendly certificates as rewards for their participation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 3 There are effective and robust medication procedures in place. A skilled staff team meets children’s health needs. There is safe storage of all medications, including controlled drugs. This ensures that children have the appropriate and correct medication that they need to maintain their emotional well-being.

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

Children do not go missing from the home due to the high staffing levels. Staff know the children well and can demonstrate what action they would take should a child go missing from the home.

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good

The manager is experienced and qualified. Staff say that the manager is supportive and approachable. One staff member said, ‘Having the new assistant managers now in post has been like a breath of fresh air and has given the team new energy.’

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good

Leaders and managers recognise the strengths of the home and areas for wider development. Managers are collaborating closely on the home’s development plan to help focus improvements. The leadership team took on board the shortfalls identified and discussed actions to address the areas that require further improvement.

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good

Over recent months, there have been significant staff shortages in the team. This has meant that the manager has been working shifts to support staff. This has impacted on the manager’s overall monitoring and review of children’s daily care. The staffing issues have meant that not all children and their families have been able to access this much-needed respite support. Leaders and managers recognise this and there is a plan in place to address this.

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good

The home receives monthly visits from an independent visitor and a report is provided. The manager has also completed a review of the quality of care that children receive. However, the report does not contain feedback from children and lacks evaluation and analysis of the reporting period. The report does not contain an action plan. This is a missed opportunity to improve the care provided and address any issues.

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good

Newly recruited staff receive a thorough induction and have completed a range of mandatory training. All staff have completed safeguarding training. However, this training does not include information to enhance staff’s understanding of specific safeguarding risks and vulnerabilities for disabled children.

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good

Information and good practice are shared within team meetings and handovers. However, formal supervision for the staff is not consistent. Not all staff receive regular supervision, and one staff member has not had her performance appraised as part of her probationary period. Furthermore, the recording of supervision lacks detail and reflection on staff’s practice. This means that not all staff have the opportunity to discuss their development. Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 4 Parents say that there is effective communication, and the use of the home’s social media means that they can see what their children have been doing on their stays. Additionally, professionals state, ‘The home’s strength is the relationships the staff have with families.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 5

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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, 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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 (2)(a)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that there is sufficient staff in place to support children’s assessed level of need and that the manager has oversight across all documents in the home. 5 April 2024

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; 5 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 6 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1)(b) (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff receive regular supervision and appraisals to ensure that there are opportunities for reflection and development, including probation reviews for inexperienced staff.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities, and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality-of-care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality-of- care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality-of-care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (5)) 5 April 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs. This relates to any allegations that are made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standard,’ page 63, paragraph 14.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff have safeguarding training, specifically in relation to children with disabilities, and provide opportunities for managers to develop leadership and management skills. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 53, paragraph 10.12) Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 7

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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: 2731613 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Westmorland and Furness Council, Town Hall, Duke Street, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria LA14 2LD

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Inspector

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2731613 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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