Children's home run by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Inspection report children's home: SC034108 1 SC034108 Registered provider: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides long-term and short break care for up to six children who may have physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since July 2022. A manager has been appointed and has applied for registration with Ofsted.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Four children are living in the home long-term. Short breaks are not currently being offered.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC034108 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/08/2023 Full Good 12/10/2022 Full Good 15/12/2021 Full Good 14/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC034108 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Children benefit from warm and nurturing relationships with a core group of permanent, skilled staff. Staff are child-centred and work hard to deliver personalised care for children.

p.3

improvement to be good

For some children, staff vacancies and the frequent use of non-permanent staff has impacted on their continuity of care. Children are not currently able to access short breaks at the home due to staffing shortages. This has impacted on the experiences of these children.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children new to the home are welcomed and quickly settle. Their needs are fully considered alongside the needs of those children already living in the home. This means children live together harmoniously. The parent of one child who is new to the home said, ‘He loves it at the home. He is a completely different person since being there. He is thriving’.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s moves on from the home as they approach adulthood are well-planned and demonstrate strong multi-agency working. This helps children to have positive moves that meet their needs and take place at a time that is best for them. Staff continue to support children as needed after they have moved on to ensure that their new staff team has the information they need to care for the children and meet their needs.

p.3

improvement to be good

There are positive relationships between staff and children’s families. Families are welcomed in to the home to spend time with their children. Staff support children to visit their family homes or to take part in family actives in the community. This helps children to maintain these important relationships and their sense of identity and belonging.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s preferred methods of communication are understood and encouraged by staff. Effective use is made of social stories and other visual aids to help children participate in the day-to-day life of the home. This helps children to participate in decision making and understand events taking place that affect them.

p.3

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

Staff have the skills and experience to care for children with complex needs. This is evident in their practice and the quality of their relationships with children. Staff know children very well and use this knowledge to care for children in a way that keeps them safe. Children’s written plans and assessments support good safeguarding practice.

p.3

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

For the most part children’s case records contain the required information from children’s social workers. The collation of children’s records, across paper and electronic systems lacks organisation. As a result, some information is not easily accessible. This does not Inspection report children's home: SC034108 4 help children or staff to understand the child’s journey or evidence all work completed with children to help them and keep them safe.

p.3

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

There has been one serious incident notified to Ofsted in this inspection period. The recording of this incident is not of sufficient detail to evidence the quality of staff practice and there is no management oversight of this incident. The incident was also not notified to Ofsted in line with regulation. This limits the regulator’s oversight of practice in the home.

p.4

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

There are well-established, practices in place in relation to the administration of medication to children. As a result, all medication is administered safely and there have been no medication errors.

p.4

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

Staff are skilled in caring for children with complex health needs. There are positive working relationships between staff and children’s specialist health care staff. This ensures that children’s medical needs are understood and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

p.4

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

When children need support with their personal care, this is done in a way that maintains the child’s dignity. Children are encouraged and supported to develop their self-care skills and take increasing responsibility, where appropriate, for aspects of their own care.

p.4

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

Physical intervention is used infrequently. The use of physical intervention is proportionate and appropriate to keep children and staff safe. There is detailed management oversight and evaluation of these incidents. The views of children, including those who are non-verbal are sought after each incident to ensure that children feel safe and understand why staff have held them.

p.4

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

The home has been without a registered manager for two years. The deputy manager has now been appointed to the manager’s role. She has recently submitted her application to register with Ofsted. A new deputy manager has recently started at the home. These appointments provide additional management capacity but are in their infancy and their impact cannot yet be demonstrated.

p.4

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

The manager has well-established relationships with peers in health, social care and education. She has developed links with colleagues in adult services. These positive working relationships help her to advocate on behalf of the children in her care and ensure that they receive the services they require in a timely manner.

p.4

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

Since the last inspection, staffing has continued to be a challenge. Staffing shortages have meant that non-permanent staff are used regularly. The permanent staff team, including some staff who have worked at the home for many years, are dedicated to the children in their care. As a result, staff are working additional hours to provide children with some continuity. Inspection report children's home: SC034108 5 Staff are not having formal supervision of their practice. Staff have not had an annual appraisal of their performance. This does not help staff to undertake their roles effectively or provide formal opportunities for reflection and professional challenge. This was raised as a requirement at the last inspection and is restated.

p.4

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

The manager’s systems for monitoring and evaluating practice in the home are not effective. The manager’s quality of care report for the last review period has not been completed and is outside of the timescale set in regulation. Requirements made at the last inspection in respect of management oversight and review have been restated.

p.5

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

Regular visits take place to the home by the independent person. Actions arising from these visits provide appropriate challenge and support for leaders and managers. However, leaders and managers have failed to identify or take action to address a recent conflict of interest that has arisen between the independent person and the local authority. This reduces independent oversight of practice in the home.

p.5

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

The home’s statement of purpose has not been updated to reflect staffing changes and the temporary removal of the home’s short breaks offer. This has not impacted on the care of children living the home. Inspection report children's home: SC034108 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, 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 September 2024

p.6

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.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

p.6

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 30 September 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC034108 7 any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

p.6

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.

p.7

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.7

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

p.7

Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year

p.7

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated 30 September 2024

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.7

Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

p.7

Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

p.7

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

p.7

Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

p.7

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 31 August 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC034108 8 (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii) and (e))

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint, at the registered provider’s expense, a person ("the independent person") to visit and report on the children’s home carried on by the registered provider

p.8

Requirement Due date

The independent person must declare any actual or potential conflict of interest (whether of the type mentioned in paragraph (3) or otherwise) to the registered provider without delay and, if reasonably practicable, before conducting a visit to the home.

p.8

Requirement Due date

If the registered provider becomes aware of a potential conflict of interest in relation to the independent person before or during the independent person visiting the home (see regulation 44), the registered provider must—

p.8

Requirement Due date

make arrangements to cancel the visit without delay; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

appoint a different independent person to visit the home.

p.8

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 43 (1))(6) and (7)(a)(b)) 31 August 2024

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 31 August 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC034108 9

p.8

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: SC034108 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tameside One, Market Place, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 6BH

p.10

Inspector

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC034108 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.10

Inspector

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.11

Inspector

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

p.11

Inspector

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

p.11