Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 1 SC464759 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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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 and provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

There is no registered manager. An acting manager has been in post since December 2023. The acting manager was absent at the time of the inspection and the inspection was supported by the area manager.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

An assurance inspection was carried out on 1 November 2023, when serious and widespread concerns were found. A compliance notice was set because of shortfalls identified in the leadership and management of the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 2 A monitoring visit was carried out on 19 January 2024 to assess the action taken by the provider to meet the compliance notice. Although there remained areas for improvement, the provider had made progress in addressing the primary concerns following the assurance inspection. The compliance notice was met. Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/07/2022 Full Good 22/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 4

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improvement to be good

Overall, the experience and progress of children require improvement due to shortfalls in the protection of children and the leadership and management of the home.

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improvement to be good

One child has not been in education since they moved into the home. Although in-house education is in place, there have only been two successful education sessions since August 2023. This limits the progress children make in education. One child has done some volunteer work in the local community. Their work was celebrated and recognised positively.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently help to prepare children for future independence. One child’s plan stated that independence work would start with the child when they were 16. This support has not yet started, almost a year later. Staff have raised concerns that the home was not helping the child to fully prepare for independence.

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improvement to be good

Children do not feel listened to. One child said when they make a complaint, a senior manager writes to them with the outcome, but the child felt that the letters were of poor quality. Another child had made a complaint about a member of staff during a one-to- one discussion. No action was taken by staff in response to this.

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improvement to be good

Most areas in the home are comfortable and welcoming. However, children are not supported by staff to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. Staff do not always think creatively about how to help children maintain their bedrooms. This was raised in the last full inspection and little progress has been made in staff understanding how children could be best supported.

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improvement to be good

Children have formed positive relationships with some staff. Staff support children to spend time with their family. This enables children to maintain relationships with those people who are important to them. Children have access to various activities. One child who recently moved into the home has been supported by staff to continue with hobbies and interests they value and excel in.

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improvement to be good

Staff support for children with their health needs is variable. One child has been helped to access an external service which has supported their emotional well-being. Another child has refused to engage in any form of therapy. Staff have not considered other ways to support the child’s emotional well-being. Health advice is sought when this is required. Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 5

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improvement to be good

Children’s individual risk assessments are not sufficiently detailed or up to date. This means that staff are less able to de-escalate situations effectively. Staff do not always follow the suggested support outlined in the risk assessments. Restrictive measures have been used by staff to manage incidents, despite there being no deprivation of liberty order in place.

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improvement to be good

Consequences are not used frequently. However, when they are used, they are not always proportionate or restorative. One child was given a consequence of no paid activity when they had been struggling with their emotions. The record of the debrief with the child stated, ‘A natural consequence was given to familiarise [name of child] that she needs to appreciate the distress an incident can cause.’ This is not in line with the home’s preferred model of care and does not help children to manage their behaviour and feelings safely.

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improvement to be good

Medication is not stored safely. The medication cabinet is in the office, however, the key for this cabinet is in an open key-storage cupboard. There are gaps in medication records. Staff do not ensure that children always have access to their required medication. This leaves children at risk of not having their medical needs met when they are out of the home.

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improvement to be good

There have not been any occasions of children going missing from home. When children stay away from the home without permission, staff provide regular support, including visually checking on their welfare.

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improvement to be good

When staff have concerns about items in a child’s bedroom, a bedroom search is undertaken. Managers can explain the rationale for bedroom searches which have been carried out, and they are proportionate. However, written records of these searches are unclear.

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

Managers do not monitor and oversee the day-to-day running of the home effectively. They do not take action to improve and develop the service, as they fail to use quality assurance systems effectively. A quality of care review has not been submitted to Ofsted since July 2023. These review reports should be submitted at a minimum of every six months. There are missed opportunities for staff to learn from practice and improve the care provided to children.

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

Staff do not keep records up to date or consistently provide enough detail. For example, some reports of debriefs with children and staff reflect information which is not recorded in the incident report. Some language used in records is not child-friendly and children’s names are spelled incorrectly. Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 6 Staff have not had training to ensure that they have the skills needed to support the needs of the children. Some staff have not completed safeguarding training or refresher training for physical intervention. Staff have not attended training in the provider’s preferred model of care. One member of staff has not yet completed the necessary qualification within the required timescale.

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

The quality of professional supervision sessions and team meetings is variable. The recording of supervision is minimal and there is limited evidence of reflective practice. One member of staff has not received supervision for four months. A newer member of staff had no supervision for three months, despite the provider stating that this should be held fortnightly. When staff raise concerns in supervision about the lack of progress for children, no action is taken. This limits the professional guidance staff receive in developing their care practice and does not ensure staff feel listened to.

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

Senior managers have regular oversight of the leadership and management of the home. Shortfalls had been identified before this full inspection. The provider has put an action plan in place to address this. Senior managers are insightful and reflective about improvements that need to be made to provide good care for children. Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 7

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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 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that risk assessments are updated regularly and thoroughly. They must also ensure that staff follow risk assessments consistently. In addition, the registered person must ensure that medication is stored securely. 16 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. 19 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s medication is accessible to them when they are away from the home. The registered person must also ensure that when children move into the home, clear and detailed information is sought about their medical needs.

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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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 16 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 9 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)(b)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff are supported to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills to provide good and consistent care to children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last full inspection and is restated.

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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

develop positive relationships with them;

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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.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff are supported to develop more positive relationships with children and ensure that children feel listened to. The registered person must also 16 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 10 ensure children already living in the home are consulted about other children moving in.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last full inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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 achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(x))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure staff support children to attend and participate in education. It also refers to the registered person ensuring staff are creative and persistent in encouraging children to engage with education. 16 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 11 For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff are registered on the diploma course and complete this within the set timescales. 16 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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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”). 16 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 12 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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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 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a review of quality of care is completed in line with regulation.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last full inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that records are kept up to date, are informative and written in child-friendly language.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last full inspection and is restated. 16 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. 16 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 13 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff consider how the child’s experiences may have impacted them and make use of the skills and knowledge of the wider staff team.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last full inspection and is restated.

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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: SC464759 14

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 20-21, Pullman Business Court, Mallard Way, Pride Park, Derby DE24 8GX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector

Kathryn Hurley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC464759 15 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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Inspector

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