Children's Home run by Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Cornwall

Inspection report for children's home: SC432404 1 SC432404 Registered provider: Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

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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 managed by an NHS Foundation Trust. It offers short breaks for up to two children with complex health needs and a learning and/or physical disability. Some children have life-limiting conditions that affect their activities and daily living.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were having an overnight stay at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 14 December 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC432404 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/12/2023 Full Good 17/01/2023 Full Good 17/11/2021 Full Good 12/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC432404 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their short breaks and seem happy during their stays. Parents report that their children appear happy when they are going for their short breaks and look forward to them. They consider their children are well cared for. Children can enjoy a range of activities during their short breaks, including baking, sensory play and visiting places of interest in their local community. The short breaks also enable children to spend time with other children, so they can make friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in this home. They are cared for by a stable team of staff who know them well. Staff communicate well with children and give them meaningful choices about the things they might like to do. One child was given choices about which book to read or DVD to watch and the member of staff really listened to their views. The child’s responses clearly showed that they felt listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming, clean and comfortable. There are comfortable spaces and spacious areas for play that help children feel relaxed and at ease. The rooms are bright and cheerful, with colourful decor. The bedrooms are decorated in a child-friendly way with themes from the circus or aquarium. In the garden, there is play equipment for children to use and a sensory garden is being developed so children can enjoy time outside.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly and their health needs are met to a good standard. When one child was experiencing health difficulties, staff took prompt action to monitor them and to seek advice from health professionals. When the child needed to go into hospital, staff stayed with them until their care could be handed over to their parents on the hospital ward.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported by staff who are provided with detailed information about the children they care for. Care plans are detailed and thorough and ensure that staff are kept up to date about children’s health needs. Before each child’s stay, contact is made with their parents or carers to enquire about their child and ensure that staff receive any updated information. This means that staff are fully prepared with up-to-date information about each child, to ensure they receive the very best levels of care during their short break. Parents and external professionals are also provided with feedback after children’s stays. This means that positive relationships are being developed with all those who are caring for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some areas of the home have recently been repaired. The manager has identified ways in which she would like to further develop some areas of the home to improve opportunities for children who stay there. This includes the development of the sensory room. Inspection report for children's home: SC432404 4

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improvement to be good

When there have been safeguarding concerns, managers have generally taken robust action, although this has not been consistent. On one occasion when there was a concern for one child , appropriate safeguarding processes were not followed by staff or managers. When the manager became aware of this concern, there was communication with the social worker, but appropriate safeguarding referrals were not made to all relevant agencies.

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improvement to be good

When there are concerns about children’s health, there is prompt communication between staff and health colleagues to obtain advice and to ensure appropriate medical intervention is provided. When managers identified a concern in relation to a child’s medication being missed, this was addressed and an investigation commenced. Actions were taken to improve practice

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improvement to be good

When one child was experiencing difficulties during their short breaks which required physical intervention by staff, these incidents were managed well. The manager and staff received more in-depth training so they were better able to understand the child’s needs and how to intervene safely in these situations.

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improvement to be good

Although managers and staff generally appear to have a good understanding of risk, appropriate action has not always been taken in response to incidents. Safeguarding practice needs to be further embedded to ensure that any future incidents are well managed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced manager in post who knows the children well. She has a good understanding of their needs and is regularly involved in their day-to-day care. She spoke positively about the children and has positive aspirations for them. She is a familiar person to the children and spend time with them during their short breaks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of what needs to be in place so that children are provided with very good levels of care. There is a good level of management oversight , and this ensures that staff are skilled and knowledgeable in meeting the needs of the children. Staff are provided with specialist training that enables them to support children well. When one child was displaying more challenging behaviour during their short breaks, more specialist training was identified to ensure that staff can meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they feel well supported by their manager and find her very approachable. They have regular supervision and access to good levels of training. They say there is a stable team of staff who are all working together well to meet the needs of the children. When issues are identified, these are discussed openly with staff, so that improvements to practice can be made. There are positive links between the staff and community Inspection report for children's home: SC432404 5 nurses who work in the local area. Managers would like to further develop these working relationships so social workers are invited to spend time in the home more frequently. Inspection report for children's home: SC432404 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager and staff must report any concerns about children directly to the social worker and local authority designated officer in a timely manner and if appropriate action is not taken then they should challenge this. 30 September 2024

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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: SC432404 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Trust Head Office, Carew House, Beacon Technology Park, Dunmere Road, Bodmin PL31 2QN

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Inspector

Sarah Sheffield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC432404 8 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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