Children's Home run by London Paramount Care Limited in Hertfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2737242 1 Registered provider: London Paramount Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with learning disabilities. There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has submitted their resignation and was not working in the home at the time of the inspection.

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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 children’s home: 2737242 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living at this home. They are happy here and feel safe. Staff say they enjoy working with the children. One child said, ‘I like the staff and they help me well.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made very good progress while living here. Incidents have reduced significantly for one child. Another child has grown in confidence. She is learning new independence and interpersonal skills. She can now have conversations with new people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans for each child are clear and detailed. They are specific to the individual needs of each child. They cover all areas of the child’s life. These clearly explain the ways the children communicate. These help staff to know how to best help and support each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff hold regular one-to-one sessions with children. They are relevant to the child’s learning and development. They also give children the opportunity to express their wishes and feelings. They are recorded well so other team members can learn more about the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is important to staff. Children who come to the home with no educational provision in place are helped to access learning. One child is now successfully attending college. An alternative provision has been identified and agreed for another child. Activities have been provided to ensure the child has learning opportunities in the meantime.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has not ensured that the home environment is welcoming for children. The decoration and maintenance of the home needs improving. However, this has been acknowledged by the provider and an action plan is in place to address this shortfall. This includes a full redecoration of the home.

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

Staff understand risks to children. Risk management plans are very detailed and clearly written. They are specific to each child. The last known occurrence of the risk is recorded. Approaches to address risks are identified. This helps staff to work in a way that reduces risk to children.

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

Staff know the children well. This has allowed them to respond well to behaviour that can be difficult to manage. This has led to a large decrease in incidents. Physical intervention is only used when necessary to keep a child or others safe. Staff are all trained in the providers preferred method of de-escalation and safe holding. Inspection report children’s home: 2737242 3 Appropriate staffing levels helps to keep the children safe. When children require high staffing ratios, this is provided. As a result, children have not gone missing from the home. It has also enabled children to safely access the community and gain new experiences.

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

Accidents involving children have been handled appropriately by staff. Professional medical help has been accessed when necessary. Staff observe and interact with children well. This helps to minimise children’s accidents.

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

The manager and responsible individual take complaints from children seriously. They work with the child to understand the child’s experience. They communicate in a way appropriate to the child’s needs and disability. A formal response is provided to the child.

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

The registered manager has submitted their resignation and has not been working in the home for a period. This led to the home being supported by managers from across the wider company. During this time some important management tasks were not completed. The shortfalls have not had a direct effect on children’s experience. However, unchecked they have the clear potential to do so. A new manager has since been appointed.

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

Supervision sessions have not been held with staff in the gap between the manager not working at the home and a new manager being appointed. Therefore, staff were not able to spend one-to-one time with a manager to help develop their practice. This is being addressed by the new home manager.

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

The manager had not held regular team meetings. As a result, staff have missed the opportunity to learn from each other and develop as a team. The new manager has recognised this and has planned monthly meetings.

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

The manager’s quality assurance of the home was minimal. This has been recognised by the company and a new head of quality assurance is supporting the home. The new manager has also identified a range of ways to improve the quality assurance and monitoring of the home.

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

The responsible individual has ensured that clear policies and procedures are in place. However, these do not address the specific needs and additional vulnerabilities of children with learning disabilities.

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

The manager has ensured that staff receive a comprehensive induction to working at the home. This is supported by a good training programme. This includes training specific to the individual needs, wishes and feelings of the children.

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

The new manager knows the strengths of the team and has already identified areas they feel need further development. Overall, staff feel well supported by the new manager, deputy manager and senior managers. Inspection report children’s home: 2737242 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming and supportive, and that the home is well decorated and maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s policies and procedures around the protection of children reflect any requirements of other relevant legislation. Specific reference should be made to the additional vulnerabilities of children with learning disabilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.22)  The registered person should ensure that staff those with a leadership and/or management role are visible and accessible to staff and able to deliver their leadership and/or management responsibilities. This should include facilitating team meetings to enable staff to develop their practice together. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.7)  The registered person should ensure that systems are in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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 children’s home: 2737242 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: London Paramount Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mardoc House, Spinney Gardens, Breachwood Green, Hitchin, SG4 8BW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Pearce

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Inspector

Shaun Caplis, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2737242 6 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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