Children's Home run by Action for Children Services Ltd in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 1 SC424089

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Registered provider: Action for Children

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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 is a short-break service for children with learning disabilities, sensory impairment and physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

A national children’s charity runs the home, which comprises of two separate houses. One is specifically for children who may have behaviours that challenge associated with their disability and the other is for children who require some degree of medical care.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to 14 children. However, the needs of the children mean that occupancy rarely reaches this level. Three children were staying in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2016.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

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

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/05/2023 Full Good 24/05/2022 Full Good 17/08/2021 Full Good 16/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy the welcoming home environment. It is child-centred and provides space for children to live comfortably with each other or separately if they wish. There are areas in the home that help to enrich children’s experiences and meet their needs, such as sensory playrooms, large outside areas and trampolines. Improvements to enhance this further have been identified by the registered manager and bedrooms have been decorated to a very high standard, making warm and calm spaces for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel relaxed and confident in their environment due to the nurturing care from a core committed staff team. Staff interact compassionately with the children who were observed to be comfortable in the home. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to take part in a range of fun activities, both inside and outside the home. Staff are creative in giving children experiences and opportunities with visits to the home from ‘spud vans’, frozen yoghurt companies, a visiting farm and a healthy ‘smoothie day’. Children are helped to understand what to expect from their time in the home through a detailed, child-friendly booklet. The routines in the home create stability and consistency for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively with careful and considered planning. Tea visits are planned prior to children staying overnight, and great thought is given when considering which children will be staying at any given time to ensure that they enjoy their stays. This is a strength of the home. For example, one child who is sensitive to noise, stays when similar or less children are staying, enabling them to have fun and make memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress while accessing the home, however progress trackers are not consistently monitored. For example, one child is working towards ‘settling into the home’, when they have been accessing the service for over one year. Furthermore, children do not always have access to communication aids, for example choice boards, symbols or feelings cards. This limits children to make choices and contribute to their care planning.

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

Staff are acutely aware of all children’s needs and vulnerabilities, ensuring that they keep them safe in the home and community. Staff are kept informed of changes through daily handovers and regular team meetings. Staff monitor children’s behaviour and reactions carefully, quickly noting any changes and reporting these. Children’s care plans are child centred and specific to their individual needs, however, some are not up to date. These omissions do not currently impact on children’s care, but this could compromise effectiveness for new staff who would rely on the outdated documents. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 4 Staff recognise where they fit into wider safeguarding networks. They can identify all external agencies that play a role in supporting the safety and well-being of children. Staff understand how to raise concerns to ensure that good safeguarding practice is followed. Close liaison with partner agencies ensures that responses to any safeguarding

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

concerns are shared swiftly. One social worker said, ‘Staff communicate very effectively if they have concerns, they raise these with me on the same day.’

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

Children’s behaviour is recognised as communication, staff are attentive to what children are trying to convey. Understanding what children are trying to express is central to all practice in the home. Staff redirect children to what they want or are consistent in how to redirect if it is something that cannot happen. As a result, physical interventions are rarely used.

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

When medication errors have occurred, leaders and managers take appropriate action to investigate them. They take effective action to ensure that the risk of further errors is reduced. For instance, guidance and protocols are reviewed and staff receive further training and competency assessments to ensure the safe administration of medication.

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

Staff recruitment is in line with safer recruitment guidelines to prevent inappropriate people working in the home. Children are protected from avoidable risk through regular maintenance of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. The development plan highlights areas for change and improvement. Staff demonstrate a dedicated commitment to ensuring high standards of care for children. One parent said, ‘Staff are excellent, they are holistic, friendly and welcoming. I can’t fault them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions that provide a space for reflection and developmental discussions. Staff work well as a team and feel that they all support each other well. New staff are welcomed by the existing team and benefit from shadowing more experienced staff until they are confident in meeting children’s needs. Well-being action plans further support staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are proactive in supporting families and manage staff rotas to support the complex needs of the children. This ensures that there are qualified and experienced staff consistently on duty.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive specific training to meet the complex health needs of the children who access the home. For example, gastrostomy feeding, epilepsy, dysphasia and anaphylaxis. Specialist equipment is regularly inspected. A nursing team support the staff to identify and manage children’s complex health needs. Monitoring to ensure that staff meet these needs is effective which adds an additional layer of quality assurance to the process. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 5 Staff feel supported by the management team and welcome that team leaders are available at any time for help or consultation. The responsible individual completes regular audits to support the team to improve the quality of care. Monthly visits by the independent person are completed. However, they do not spend sufficient time in the home and rarely visit unannounced. This impacts on the level of scrutiny provided. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 6

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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.

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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

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;

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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

feedback on the experiences of children; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(2)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s records are monitored and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that consideration is given for staff to receive training regarding the communication needs of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should support staff to be ambitious for every child in the home and record progress of children’s achievements. 16 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes a rigorous assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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: SC424089 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Inspector

Hannah Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC424089 9 regulates and inspects to 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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