Children's Home run by Omega Elifar Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 1 Registered provider: Omega Elifar 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 registered with Ofsted in August 2023. It provides short-break services for children with learning disabilities. A total of 16 children currently use the service for overnight stays. The home provides care for up to six children at any one time. At the time of the inspection, one child was staying overnight.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 3

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improvement to be good

Children who visit on short breaks have made progress, for example, with their sleeping routines and exploring new foods. However, the experiences and progress of all children at this home have been affected by shortfalls in help and protection and leadership and management. Since the last inspection, one child has come to live at the home outside of short break arrangements. The needs of this child are outside the home’s statement of purpose and conditions of registration.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not trained in using all children’s communication aids. One child has a specialist communication tool which not all staff are trained to use. Staff have access to symbols and aids for most of the other children who come to stay.

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improvement to be good

Staff have developed good relationships with parents and external professionals. They have effective communication about the children’s needs. One Parent said that staff are ‘amazing’ at working with them. Staff are now spending time with children at school to develop consistency between the home and school.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy coming to stay. They have access to a range of activities in the home such as sensory play, activities in the garden and arts and crafts. However, all children continue to have few opportunities to enjoy activities outside the home. There has been one trip out since the last monitoring visit. One child who has been at the home on a longer stay has only left the house once in two weeks.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessment records for children are not of good quality. The records do not always clearly identify the level of risks for children. Some records lack clear detail about control measures for reducing risks. Staff do not understand specific risks for one child, including risks around going missing from home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not support one child who is at risk when using the internet. There are parental controls in place to restrict content accessible online. However, staff do not routinely check or monitor what the child is accessing online, including social media. The child is using social media apps designed for older children and staff are not ensuring he is safe online.

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improvement to be good

Staff routinely restrict children’s freedoms due to their complex needs. Restrictions include doors to specific areas of the home being locked and covers being used on seatbelt buckles. The plans on why and how they are to be used are not clearly recorded in the children’s plans and are not reviewed to ensure they are still required. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 4 Staff manage children’s behaviours of distress well. They follow the children’s plans and help children calm without the use of physical intervention. There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Medication handling and administration systems have improved since the last inspection. The children’s records are clear and well maintained. Staff are well trained, confident and knowledgeable about administration of medication. There have been no medication errors since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not ensured that the conditions of registration are always met and that children’s needs are always fully considered. The manager did not ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge and experience to meet one child’s needs before they moved in. Staff have not been trained in relevant significant risks such as knife crime, gangs, substance misuse and being missing from home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not have effective systems in place for monitoring health and safety risks. There are several outstanding actions from a fire risk assessment which have not been completed. Leaders’ monitoring of these actions is weak and they are unable to demonstrate that they have been completed. A service inspection of one hoist was overdue, which was not identified by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records for children are not of good quality and the language used in records is not thoughtful, referring to children ‘attacking’ or ‘assaulting’ staff. This language does not accurately describe the event. Incidents are not clearly recorded to show which child and which staff are involved. This makes records hard to read and for the child understand what has happened if they read these in the future. The manager’s oversight of these incident records has not improved the quality of recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Care plans are not clear. Some plans make reference to holding children by their wrists and refer to use of a bear hug. These descriptions are misleading and could result in unsafe or inconsistent care being provided by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not have a clear development plan to improve the quality of care for children. Some systems are in place to monitor the quality of care, however, these are not effective in identifying areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has met the requirements from the last full inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 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, 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

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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

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

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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)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the needs of the children who come to stay at the home are in line with the home’s registration and statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the staff have the skills and experience to care for the children who are staying at home. This should be considered before a new child comes to stay. 28 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 6 Use monitoring systems to inform a development plan to improve the quality of care for children.

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Requirement Due date

Have monitoring systems in place to monitor health and safety across the home.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(ii)(iii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that arrangements are in place to ensure that children are safe online. 28 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the plans for children are clear, enabling safe and effective care. 28 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure language used in children’s records is nurturing and supportive rather than institutional. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities outside of the home and are encouraged to participate in those activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)  The registered person should ensure that each child is provided with support (appropriate to their age and understanding) to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of their care planning and daily care. This may include the use of and support to use communication aids, equipment and/or any necessary language support. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that mechanical restraints are subject to a rigorous assessment process and, as with any restraint, be necessary and proportionate. Wherever such restraint is planned, it should be identified in a broad- ranging, robust behaviour support plan which aims to bring about the circumstances where continued use of such restraint will no longer be required. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.45)  The registered person should ensure that risk assessments clearly indicate the level of risks for children and include details of the steps staff will take to reduce risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2718906 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Omega Elifar Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kintyre House, 70 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire PO16 7BB

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Inspectors

Shirin White, Social Care Inspector Mark Dawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2718906 9 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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