Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Suffolk

Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to five children with ongoing mental health difficulties and who may not be able to live in the community without continued support.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2023, when the home opened.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a separately registered school on site. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/06/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This inspection was brought forward in order to address specific concerns received by Ofsted. At the time of the inspection, there were five children living at the home. Two children have moved in since the last visit.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health is supported. There is an on-site clinical team who provide therapeutic support to children. Staff talk to children about the importance of taking their medication and taking care of their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are registered at the on-site school. Staff encourage children to attend school. When children do not attend, teachers from the school visit them at home and leave work for them. The working relationships between the school staff and the home staff work well to reduce children’s barriers to learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their independence. One child is working towards moving from the home. The child has a weekly plan to work on to support them to be ready for this move. Staff support the child to develop skills such as budgeting, cooking and managing their own medication. One child had not left their house for a long time, and since living at the home they have been out in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do not always receive a response when they raise concerns or make requests. Staff tell them these will be looked into, however, they are not given updates or told the outcomes. One child made a complaint that was not responded to formally by the manager. This could leave children feeling unsupported and reluctant to share their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have personalised their bedrooms and said that they like them. There are observation windows on children’s bedroom doors. However, the home does not have signed consent from children’s social workers for their bedrooms to be monitored in this way. This practice is not in line with the home’s statement of purpose.

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

Staff understand children’s risks. Individual checks are carried out for each child, which are understood by staff. Risk management plans provide staff with strategies to follow. Staff use a set therapeutic approach when working with children. The manager sends examples of good practice to the staff to support them in providing consistent care to children.

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

Staff understand the dynamics between the children. Managers are working on plans following concerns about children’s relationships. Staffing levels for one child have been increased as a result of an altercation between two children. This helps children to feel safe at their home. Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 4 There have been no missing-from-home incidents. This is an improvement since the last full inspection.

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

Safer recruitment systems are followed for new members of staff. The manager has not used temporary staff for several months. This means children are supported by staff that they know.

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

The manager ensures that referrals to the local authority designated officer (LADO) are made promptly. She follows guidance from the LADO as required. One allegation was referred and the manager was guided by the LADO to make enquiries into this allegation. However, staff who were on duty at the time were not asked for their accounts. This could mean that full information relating to the allegation was not considered.

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

Risk management plans are individual to each child. However, there are sections which are not fully up to date and could confuse staff about levels of observation for children. For one child, there are specific risks about allegations against the staff. These risks are identified but lack detail.

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

Restraint is used only when necessary. However, debriefs with staff and the child following the use of restraint do not always take place. This could leave the children and staff feeling unsupported. Failure to carry out debriefs prevents the manager from having full oversight of the use of restraint and whether it was proportionate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is experienced and qualified for the role. The manager has a clear understanding of staff practice and action she has taken. However, there are limited records of these actions. This means she is not able to provide evidence that concerns have been fully and appropriately explored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Investigations into concerns about staff practice are not concluded in a timely manner. Some investigations are ongoing for over two months after the incident. This could impact on the staff member. This means that learning from the incident and any changes that are required are not put in place promptly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The workforce plan does not identify staff training or training needs. There is no training matrix. Staff training can be monitored through the online training system. However, this does not give an overview of the training completed or required by all staff. This means that the manager is not able to monitor whether staff have all attended relevant training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is an induction programme to support staff to learn their roles. The assessment for new children identifies that staff require training to support children’s to understand their past experiences. However, this training has not been provided. Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 5 The manager’s comments in records of consequences are not always child-friendly. When consequences are given, the child is asked for their views. The manager then records their evaluation of the consequence. Some of these comments are worded in a punitive way. This could be upsetting for a child to read.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Supervision sessions take place regularly. However, the quality of supervision varies. The supporting records include comments made by staff which are not followed up or challenged appropriately by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff said that they feel supported by the manager. External professionals are positive about the communication with the staff team. Team meetings take place regularly to support the staff. The clinical team is involved in the team meetings, to support staff to work in therapeutic ways. Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 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 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure there are records detailing action taken by the manager following incidents or allegations, that concerns about staff practice are fully explored and investigations into staff practice are carried out in a timely manner. 28 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. 28 June 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children are given updates following their requests.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(c)) 28 June 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the placing authority has given written consent at the time of placement for any monitoring or surveillance equipment to be used. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should ensure that there is a workforce plan that can fulfil the workforce-related requirement of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. In particular, that staff complete training courses identified in assessments for new children moving to the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on

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Recommendations

record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 8 recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. In particular, ensure that risk management plans are accurate and clearly explain current risks and strategies to manage these, and that records of consequences issued to children are written in a non-punitive manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2707907 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Leanne Lyon, Social Care Inspector Anver Rose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2707907 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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