Children's Home run by Sequel Support Ltd in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Inspection report children's home: 2634911 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care Mayfield Lodge Limited

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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 home can care for up to three children with learning disabilities. There are currently three children living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2021. She is also the registered manager for another home operated by the provider.

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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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2634911 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2023 Full Good 22/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2634911 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector met and spent time with all children in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s wellbeing and progress is at the centre of the teams’ approach. Children receive care from staff who know them well. Staff are responsive, encouraging and supportive. They encourage children to enjoy new experiences and to try new things.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a variety of opportunities with staff, such as day trips out to the seaside and soft play. Closer to home, they enjoy swimming and visiting play parks. Within the home there are a range of toys and games, which staff use skilfully to promote and develop children’s skills. Children enjoy the cosy sensory room, a relaxing space to unwind after school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers say the children they support make good progress in the home. They say that staff are warm, caring and responsive to their needs. Staff are interested in children’s education and work in partnership with schools. Teachers from two schools say they have seen significant improvements in children’s behaviour and progress at school since they have moved to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s complex health needs are met. They support children to attend specialist appointments for their health conditions, and to visit specialist services for their dental and eye health. Staff focus on supporting children to lead healthy lifestyles. Children eat varied and healthy foods, and staff help them to be active.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm and welcoming environment. Children’s bedrooms are decorated to reflect their individual interests. The home is adapted and changed to meet the needs of the children living in the home. The former gym space is now an additional sensory playroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two young people have moved out of the home. Managers and adult services worked closely together to support moves shortly after both young people turned 18. Staff and young people enjoyed special leaving celebrations before staff supported them to settle in their new homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure children spend time with their families. One parent says they are made to feel welcome by staff when they visit. They describe their child as ‘full of life’ and as enjoying living in the home. One parent has raised concerns about the care for their child and the arrangements for support. Attempts to creatively support the child and family with a full-time placement have been unsuccessful and have resulted in a shared care arrangement that more closely resembles short breaks. Leaders and managers recognise this is not in line with the statement of purpose or something they can offer and are working with the local authority and the family to identify the next steps that can best meet the child and family needs. Inspection report children's home: 2634911 4

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

Staff understand children and their needs well. This means that incidents in the home are low. Staff understand that for these children, behaviour is typically a form of communication. Staff follow children’s support plans. They give them time and space to good effect. Staff speak with children after incidents to try and help them understand what happened and what could be done differently. Staff use social stories and visual aids to help this. Staff help to develop and improve children’s communication, which in turn makes it easier for children to express themselves.

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

Staff receive safeguarding training, including specific consideration of the safeguarding needs of children with disabilities. Staff know how to report concerns about practice they might see. When concerns are raised, managers address them as needed, sharing the action taken with other professionals.

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

Staff identify and understand concerns and risks for children’s safety. After incidents occur, they update children’s risk assessments. These also contain information about what has helped to address or reduce those risks. When incidents or safeguarding concerns occur, managers update social workers about the actions they have taken. However, it is not always clear that managers have considered whether a notification to Ofsted is required.

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

Significant incidents are recorded as stand-alone events on the record management system. However, behaviour seen more frequently is often only captured on the daily log. While managers regularly review this and capture general trends and patterns, these behaviours are not fully analysed and understood. This means the information is not being shared to contribute to care planning for the wider professional network.

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

Medicines are stored safely in the home, and processes are in place for safe administration. However, one child’s liquid food prescription is not stored in such a way as to prevent the child having access to this when they are unsupervised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers create a calm, nurturing and caring environment in the home. There are clear expectations, and a unified ethos that staff deliver effectively. Managers understand the quality of care, and support staff to develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about working in the home. They feel well supported by their managers and that they work together well as a team. Daily handover meetings ensure that important information is passed on across the staff team. Team meetings offer an opportunity for staff to speak about the children and practice in the home. While these meetings take place monthly, they are not always recorded in a timely way. This means those who do not attend cannot familiarise themselves with the conversations that took place. Inspection report children's home: 2634911 5 Staff receive training relevant to the needs of the children who live in the home. This includes training about autism and communication skills. There are sufficient staff trained to undertake delegated healthcare activities to meet the needs of the child requiring them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have developed and improved the language used by staff when writing about children. This is now suitably descriptive, while maintaining a respectful vocabulary that avoids institutional phrases. Inspection report children's home: 2634911 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, 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 registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that— medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that any items prescribed by a medical professional are securely stored. 01 November 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure it is clear when consideration has been given to making a notification under regulation 40. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 63, paragraph 14.9)  The registered person should ensure they understand and analyse patterns of behaviour that are seen to contribute to plans for children's care. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that team meetings are recorded swiftly so that staff who are not present are aware of information that has been shared. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 54, paragraph 10.20)

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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 children's home: 2634911 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care Mayfield Lodge Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Horizon Care Mayfield Lodge Limited, 264 High Road, Harrow, HA3 7BB

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 2634911 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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