Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 1 SC475723

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Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care for up to nine children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022.

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Information about this children's home

Nine children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Inspection date: 26 March 2024

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 26 March 2024

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At these inspections, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspectors looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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'. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

The home provides a welcoming and spacious environment in which children make good progress. The children spoke positively about living in the home.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff know the children well, listen to them, and invest time getting to know them. Staff were observed to be listening and responding to children’s views. These positive relationships are helping children to learn what a respectful relationship looks like, and how to create one.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff support children to maintain good physical health. Children are encouraged to eat healthily and attend all their health appointments. This helps children access specialist support to improve their physical health and well-being.

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Findings from the inspection

Children are engaging in education and making progress. One child gained their maths and English GCSE, and another child is attending college.

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Findings from the inspection

Children who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively and with the best possible planning. This helped one child experience a positive and smooth transition into the home during the week of the inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff support children to see their family and maintain regular communication with them. This is a real strength of the staff team. This helps children to maintain their identity and continue to see the people who are important to them.

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Findings from the inspection

Children are involved in decisions about their care and planning for their future. Regular meetings take place with children to talk about their day-to-day care. Managers provide feedback to children about agreed actions.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection the manager has worked hard to ensure that children’s daily routines are personalised to their individual needs. This helps promote a personalised culture of care where children can thrive.

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Findings from the inspection

Risk assessments and behaviour support plans have improved since the last inspection. They now address all the child’s needs and include individual approaches identified by the clinical team. This ensures that staff know what is expected of them when managing behaviour.

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Findings from the inspection

The staff spoken to understand children’s vulnerabilities and identified risks. Staff are clear about what to do when responding to concerns about the safety of a child. This means that children are safeguarded effectively because of the care they experience. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 3 Staff follow the statutory guidance when a child goes missing from the home. The staff will actively look for the children and liaise with professionals to help minimise risk. Although incidents of going missing from home are infrequent, they are well managed and coordinated.

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Findings from the inspection

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted. Staff use effective de-escalation techniques, and the frequency of physical interventions has reduced since the last inspection. However, the incident records do not always include accurate information about the length of time for a physical intervention. This means it is difficult to determine if the intervention is consistent with the behaviour management policy.

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Findings from the inspection

The home is managed by a suitably qualified manager. The manager knows the children well. Staff spoken to describe the team as ‘supportive’ and said that they enjoy working in the home.

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Findings from the inspection

Monitoring and review systems have improved since the last inspection, and there are regular audits. This means that the manager can identify and act on shortfalls in a timely way to improve the quality of care that the child receives.

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Findings from the inspection

Records of incidents are detailed, and management evaluation is evident in the children’s records. The manager has introduced a post incident learning tool that is used to improve practice.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager has escalated concerns to professionals about not having all the relevant local authority documentation. However, this is not always effective as some documents remain outstanding.

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Findings from the inspection

The external monitoring provided by the independent person requires improvement. The views of the children, family and external professionals are not routinely captured to ensure a balanced view of the home.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, the manager has worked hard to address the requirements and recommendations made. However, there remain shortfalls in some areas which will be reviewed at the home’s next inspection. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/07/2022 Full Good 12/10/2021 Full Good 22/10/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 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 meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must escalate concerns effectively if the provider does not have all the relevant local authority documentation. 07 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the child; 07 May 2024 Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 6 details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff implement any use of restraint to a child in accordance with the behaviour management policy. Furthermore, the regis- tered person must ensure that there is an accurate record of the restraint.

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Recommendations

 Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home's care. This includes regularly consulting with a range of people to gain their opinions about the quality of care provided in the home. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 65, paragraph 15.5) Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth, Lancashire LA6 2PR

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Inspectors

Dawn Walker, Social Care Inspector Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC475723 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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