Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Herefordshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. Only one child was present and spoken to during the inspection. Two children have left the home since the last inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 30 April 2024. A trainee manager has been in post since May 2024, with oversight from a registered manager from another Cambian group home. This registered manager was not present during the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The responsible individual and a manager from another home were present during the inspection. The inspector was informed that this manager would become the home’s manager.

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 requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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

Date of last inspection: 18 September 2023

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 for children's home: 2599399 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/09/2023 Full Good 07/03/2023 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Inadequate 30/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Children have personalised their bedrooms and pictures of the children decorate the hallway, which adds to the homely feel. One child’s artwork is displayed downstairs. The home is generally clean and tidy. However, one of the bathrooms was dirty and this detracted from the overall nurturing environment. Some maintenance issues have not been addressed within reasonable timescales. When damage is caused by children, the lack of a timely repair can retraumatise children because it is a visual reminder.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children are restricted from using certain parts of the home during the night because staff sleep in in the lounge. A fold-up bed was laid out in the lounge from two nights before the inspection.

p.3

improvement to be good

Wide support networks are available for children, which are welcomed by staff, to meet children’s individual care planning needs. However, there has been an increase in children going missing from the home and incidents of children harming themselves. Risk assessments have not always been updated immediately to reflect changes in safety planning. Therefore, not all staff know how to respond appropriately to keep children safe. Furthermore, children’s ability to make progress and access full support from services has been compromised because of inconsistent sharing of information.

p.3

improvement to be good

A new staff team has caused instability in the home. Children have only been able to build trusting relationships with some staff members. Managers are addressing this by encouraging children to access support from the staff members they feel most comfortable with. One child said that staff care, and that they feel safe living in their home. However, the varying and complex needs of the two children living in the home have added to the instability. Managers have taken action to assess whether they can continue to meet the needs of both children together.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s uniqueness and diversity are supported and they are educated about their rights. This has contributed to children being more confident in themselves and resilient when they face challenges.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to spend time with their families, to meet their emotional and identity needs. One child requested a meeting with a friend in the holidays, which was not responded to by staff swiftly. This resulted in the child missing an opportunity to meet with their friend early in the school holidays. Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 4

p.3

improvement to be good

Complaints and issues of bullying have been handled sensitively; however, a complaint was not addressed in appropriate timescales. This was due to a breakdown in communication between a manager and staff member.

p.4

improvement to be good

Medication records are not updated and completed consistently. Medication was kept in the home when it should have been discarded. There was no record of some medication being administered, therefore, it is unclear if a child received adequate medical attention on three separate occasions.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children harming themselves, including the risk of children using ligatures, is an identified risk in the home. Records do not provide staff with any guidance on ligature risks and did not provide staff with regular updates when there was a sharp increase in children harming themselves over a four-week period. The managers and staff lacked curiosity when reviewing the safety of the home environment and assessing ligature points, despite having received self-harm training. The staff also receive regular consultations from an in-house therapist.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff have important discussions with children about issues relating to their safety and well-being. Children are praised for their level of engagement. Online safety and risks relating to overdose have been explored following incidents, however, children’s views and feedback were missing from records of these incidents. Therefore, it is difficult to know whether children fully understand the risks relating to their behaviours.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff liaise with external professionals to help keep children safe, especially when they recognise they require the expertise of other professionals. A ‘keeping safe officer’ said that staff are ‘more than accommodating’, and the work they are doing will hopefully improve the safety of the child.

p.4

improvement to be good

Managers attend meetings to support children. One manager challenged a teacher about the appropriateness of their decision to end a child’s school placement, and that this was going to impact on their ability to remain living in their home and on their future educational provision.

p.4

improvement to be good

Actions in the fire risk assessment are still to be carried out, which compromises the safety of the home. There has been a delay of six months in escalating these issues with the maintenance team. This should have been identified by the manager’s audit of the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The experiences and progress of children have been affected by the changes in the management team. There has been no registered manager at the home since April 2024, and the home has had four managers since then. This has disrupted the level of oversight in the home and how risks have been managed. Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 5 The home has just established a full staff team. However, there is a core group of staff, which demonstrates their commitment and care to the children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The trainee manager is enthusiastic and understands the home’s strengths and areas for development. Managers accept that the changes in the management team have impacted on the quality of care provided to children and recognise that stability is required to better improve practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The communication between managers, including the responsible individual, is not always effective. The responsible individual was not aware that the manager who is overseeing the home is not applying for registration, until this was discussed during the inspection. Ineffective oversight has led to shortfalls in record-keeping and a lack of consistent practice to keep children safe. Therefore, the aims of the statement of purpose are not being fully achieved.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Weekly and monthly audits are undertaken by the manager and responsible individual. They have not been effective due to widespread issues, including around recruitment, supervision, training, response to allegations, notification of safeguarding incidents and fire safety. A new auditing system has been used since January 2024 to improve compliance with regulations and improve practice. However, this has had minimal impact on the daily safeguarding practice in the home because of the issues identified.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not provided staff with regular supervision sessions, with some staff not having had supervision for several months. Poor practice has not been consistently addressed by managers. Therefore, staff have not always been fulfilling all their responsibilities.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When a child made an allegation against a staff member, the member of staff was allowed to continue working and interacting with the child. The home’s policy about allegations against staff was not followed. Decision-making was challenged. However, the manager’s oversight failed to identify further learning opportunities from this incident.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff, including a senior staff member, have not completed mandatory safeguarding training within reasonable timescales, one being out of timescale by six months. Managers have not escalated this at supervision.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff recruitment files are kept online; however, not all information was accessible, including information in relation to references and identification documentation.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has recruited a new manager. They are knowledgeable about the home even though they have only been employed for two days. They showed great enthusiasm to address the issues identified and took appropriate action to address immediate safeguarding issues relating to children. Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.6

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.6

Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that managers address the risk of self-harm more effectively and address outstanding actions from the home’s fire risk assessment. 30 September 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 30 September 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff and managers being more proactive and curious when risk assessing the home environment, due to self-harming incidents.

p.7

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.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers implementing effective auditing strategies to improve staff compliance with safeguarding policies and procedures. 30 September 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 8 The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

p.7

Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

p.8

Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

p.8

Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b))

p.8

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the responsible individual, who must be aware of any changes in respect of the registered manager post and ensure that the new manager applies to Ofsted for registration within 12 weeks of starting employment. 7 November 2024

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the design of the home provides staff who sleep in the home overnight with appropriate accommodation and facilities to do so. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.26)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. This includes providing regular supervision, in line with the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 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 for children's home: 2599399 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

p.10

Inspector

Caoimhe Richards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2599399 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 looked after children, 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