Children's home run by Truly Care Services

Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 1 Registered provider: Truly Care Services

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private provider. The home provides cares for one child with a learning disability. The child was spoken to during the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2021.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 27 February 2024

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Good 11/01/2023 Full Good 02/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and suitably furnished. The child’s bedroom meets their needs and reflects their interests. The staff have made recent changes to the home environment with the focus on creating a separate space for the child where they can receive home tuition. The child enjoys the garden and they have grown fruit and vegetables over the summer. The garden is well kept, with areas to sit and relax.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff provide the child with a good standard of care. Staff work hard to ensure their relationships with the child are always positive. The child values the staff support and care they receive and enjoys spending time with them. Staff are nurturing and patient in their approach and ensure that the child understands what is being asked of them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have extensive knowledge about the child’s communication needs and always use various tools to support effective communication. Staff have started to learn a specific communication programme, with the aim of using this in addition to other forms of communication. Therefore, the child has several ways to communicate their needs, which will promote their voice being heard.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is being educated by a tutor at home, an arrangement which has been in place for several years. The tutor and staff have a seamless approach to supporting the child’s educational opportunities. They work together to set targets for the child and complete an action plan around what support is needed to meet them. Everyone works together to support the child to gain new skills and knowledge. As a result, the child achieves good educational outcomes.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a focused effort on caring for the child and equipping them with independent living skills. As they are approaching adulthood, the child’s learning has been woven into everyday tasks. The child has shown that they are very capable of completing tasks themselves with little support. This is good progress for the child and shows that, with the right support, they can learn key skills.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child accesses a wide variety of activities. When staff identify barriers that would hamper the child’s ability to take part in an activity, they work hard to reduce these, so they remain included in the local community. Staff are keen to provide the child with as many opportunities as possible to sample life outside the home. They appreciate how it will enhance the child’s overall development and understanding of the community and world they live in. Furthermore, these varied opportunities help the child to improve their confidence and support them to develop their social skills. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 4

p.3

improvement to be good

The child’s needs are such that they require close supervision. Therefore, they do not go missing and are not at risk of any form of exploitation. The child is safe when they are online, as staff monitor the content that the child is searching for and viewing.

p.4

improvement to be good

When the child has struggled to control their emotions or level of anxiety, this has led to incidents. The child has responded positively to the consistent, caring and nurturing approach used by staff. The investment from staff in their relationships with the child is key to the child’s progress in regulating their emotions. There is a clear safety plan in place that sets out how staff should support the child during incidents, however, staff do not read the plan when it is updated.

p.4

improvement to be good

The manager does not always have oversight of incidents. The information relating to one incident could not be found. The staff team recognises the importance of a coordinated response to safety planning for the child. There is a holistic approach to this, with positive multidisciplinary working relationships where all parties focus on the objective of ensuring that the child remains safe.

p.4

improvement to be good

The medication process is well established, and staff administer medication to the child each day. However, the manager does not have an effective process to assess whether medication is being administered safely. Errors have been made in the medication logs which have not been identified.

p.4

improvement to be good

Safe recruitment processes are well managed and regulations are followed. There are clear and effective processes in place to ensure that the staff working in the home are safe to do so.

p.4

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

The manager became dual registered earlier this year for another of the provider’s homes. Since then, he has not been able to provide sufficient oversight of this home to ensure leadership and management of the home are effective.

p.4

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

The manager has high expectations of staff, with the overall objective that the child receives good care and is supported to learn and develop. However, due to his responsibilities across two homes, he has not been able to have detailed oversight of all the work in this home. This has led to staff’s work being of varying standards and some tasks not being completed, and the manager not being aware of this.

p.4

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

Staff feel supported by the manager and enjoy working in the home. There is a strong ethos of teamwork and supporting each other to meet the needs of the child. The staff receive regular reflective supervision. There are a variety of meetings where the team get together to reflect on their practice and the progress of the child. The staff have completed their mandatory training but have not received training relating to this child’s specific needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 5 Staff work in partnership with external agencies to ensure the child receives the support they need. There is a clear team around the child approach, and everyone in this group is accountable to support the progress of the child. External professionals said that the child is making progress, and describe communication from the staff as good.

p.4

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

The manager recognises the importance of the child maintaining links with people who matter to them. There is a coordinated approach with family to ensure that family time is positive for all. The child’s mother said the staff are ‘absolutely brilliant’ and work hard to support her child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 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 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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, establish a system to monitor and review the quality of work undertaken in the home. This is to enable staff to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided. 15 November 2024

p.6

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff follow the medication process and complete the medication records when medication has been administered. 15 November 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— 15 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 7 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

p.7

Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c))

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that they are able to locate all children’s records, which must be stored securely.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff consistently read and sign all the home’s policies and procedures, for the benefit of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)  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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

p.7

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: 2633026 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Truly Care Services

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Olive House, Blake Street, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire NG19 9NT

p.8

Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2633026 9 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.8

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.9

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9