Children's home run by Keys Nhcc Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 1 Registered provider: Keys NHCC Limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in May 2020 and is owned by a large private company. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is experienced and holds a level 5 qualification in health and social care management.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/05/2023 Full Good 23/08/2022 Full Good 22/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. No children have moved out.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in the home and are making good progress. Staff understand the children’s needs and provide individualised care. Children have positive relationships with staff that are based on respect and trust. They have structure and routine to their days and enjoy a range of activities, including holidays and skateboarding. They also attend clubs, which provides opportunities for social development. The care staff provide gives the children stability and helps them to feel settled.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend education that is specific and appropriate to their needs. Staff work hard to maintain good attendance at school. One child receives a hybrid of educational settings that works well for them and enhances their educational experience. Educational professionals are unanimous in their praise of the home and its impact on outcomes for children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with the people who are important to them, helping them to maintain those relationships. Children enjoy time spent with their family. These positive experiences have, for one child, enabled an increase in family time.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain good health. They are registered with relevant services and attend appointments with health professionals. They are encouraged to eat healthily and participate in physical activities. Where children have complex health conditions, the home takes a robust approach to ensure that their specific needs are met and that their condition is well managed.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s cultural needs are well considered. Children have been supported to explore other cultures and broaden their experiences and understanding. For example, regular themed nights take place in the home, which includes decorating the home and trying foods from different cultures. One child also enjoyed a visit to a temple to develop their understanding of cultures different from their own.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is generally decorated and furnished to a high standard, which makes it feel warm and welcoming. Children’s bedrooms are personalised, with posters and bed coverings which match their interests. This helps to build children’s sense of belonging. However, there are aspects of the environment which detract from the homely feel. For example, some areas of the home are inaccessible to children and there are alarms on all children’s bedroom doors. There is no clear rationale as to why these measures are universally in place or any plans to review them. In addition, one bedroom window does not have a suitable covering to block out light to aid sleep. Visible carpet stains and pest control boxes in the garden also take away from the homely feel. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 4

p.3

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

Staff understand the risks relating to the children in their care and know how to best support them. Children’s plans are well documented and provide staff with clear guidance to keep children safe. Children say that they feel safe living at the home.

p.4

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

Staff promote positive behaviour. They use a sensitive approach to help children recognise when they have been unkind, such as during incidents where discriminatory language has been used.

p.4

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

Staff have a good understanding of the triggers which may lead to an escalation of behaviour. They respond quickly and use children’s individual strategies to reduce the risk of behaviours escalating. For example, staff recognised that one child’s negative behaviour increased when there were unfamiliar staff working in the home. They took action to ensure that the child is now cared for by familiar adults. As a result of staff’s practice, there has been little need to use physical intervention and no incidents of children going missing from care.

p.4

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

Complaints and allegations made by children are taken seriously. The registered manager ensures that complaints and allegations are acted on and appropriately managed and that they work closely with partner agencies to safeguard children. On one occasion, staff did not immediately report an allegation. This delay was addressed by the manager and the outcome of the allegation was well communicated to the child. This reinforces to children that they will be listened to and action will be taken to keep them safe.

p.4

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

Staff use consequences and rewards that are proportionate to help promote positive behaviours. Children are supported to understand the impact of their behaviour and to understand what behaviour is expected and acceptable.

p.4

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

Children are cared for by staff who have undergone the necessary recruitment checks. This helps to ensure that staff who work at the home are safe to do so.

p.4

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

Since the last inspection, there has been a period of instability in the leadership of the home. The registered manager had an unplanned absence for three months. The deputy manager then left shortly afterwards. This was followed by a period during which one of the senior care workers stepped up as acting manager supported by the responsible individual. Although this did not have an impact on the children’s progress and experiences, it did lead to some shortfalls in the continuity of the service. For example, staff were not consistently receiving supervision to enable them to reflect on their practice and development needs.

p.4

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

The registered manager maintains oversight of the home through regular monitoring and auditing. This has been effective in identifying some areas for improvement. For example, a medication error was picked up during routine auditing. This enabled prompt Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 5 action to be taken to ensure that there was no harm. Refresher training and reassessment of staff competencies in administering medicines was provided to prevent reoccurrence. However, the manager’s monitoring systems did not pick up on other areas relating to the environment that also required consideration.

p.4

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

While children’s records are generally clear and comprehensive, there are some areas of recording that need improvement. For example, discussions with children are not always detailed, support plans are not always updated in a timely way and one risk assessment contains details relating to another child. However, other records are accurate and clear and there is no evident impact on children relating to recording shortfalls.

p.5

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

The registered manager has not challenged effectively when there were delays from other services in the provision of care and treatment, such as the provision of therapy and medication reviews. Therefore, children do not always receive timely support for their needs.

p.5

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

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and the action they need to take to deliver improvements. This has focused on improving staffing levels and developing the staff team before bringing any further children into the home. This reduces the reliance on agency staff and ensures that staff are sufficiently prepared and skilled for another child to move into the home.

p.5

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

The home has a positive management culture. Staff feel well supported by the management team and like working at the home. Senior management considered the needs of the registered manager to safely return to work, providing support for them to continue their role in leading the home. This helps to ensure the stability of the workforce caring for the children.

p.5

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

The manager has ambitions for the children. They have a good understanding of the children’s needs and the progress they are making. There is good communication with professionals, and feedback from professionals and family members is positive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

p.6

Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

p.6

Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

p.6

Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that there is a clear and appropriate rationale for restricting children’s access to areas in the home and for the continued use of alarms on bedrooms doors. These measures must be kept under review. 31 August 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.6

Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

p.6

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 (b)(c)) 31 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 7 In particular, the registered manager must actively challenge relevant authorities when there is a delay to children receiving the services required to meet their needs.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.7

Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

p.7

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that staff receive regular supervision to enable them to reflect on practices and performance to support the continued improvement of the home. 31 August 2024

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that is homely and meets children’s needs. This specifically relates to ensuring a pleasant garden environment, appropriate coverings for all bedroom windows and cleanliness of carpeted areas. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children’s records are appropriately detailed, accurate and kept up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

p.7

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: 2570535 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

p.8

Inspectors

Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Laura Norcop, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2570535 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9