Children's Home run by City of Doncaster Council in Doncaster

Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 1 Registered provider: City of Doncaster Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to eight children with sensory needs, physical and/or learning disabilities. The service offers short breaks for up to four children. This includes a combination of overnight care, tea visits and day care during school holidays.

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Information about this children’s home

The service registered with Ofsted on 1 September 2022. The service has two registered managers. The deputy manager and responsible individual led the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There are 26 children accessing this home for care and support. Three children were seen during the inspection and an inspector observed and spoke to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspectors were aware during this inspection that a serious incident that occurred at the setting since the last inspection is under investigation by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind, actions taken Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 2 by the setting in response to the incidents were considered alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/08/2023 Full Good 13/12/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not understand all children’s communication needs. Staff have not been trained in one child’s preferred communication method using aids in communication that are familiar to the child and there is limited guidance in the child’s plans. This leaves the onus on the child to communicate their needs and reduces their ability to participate fully.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s individual health needs are not all met. Staff are not all trained in epilepsy awareness and administration of rescue medication or gastrostomy care. Children staying in this home may have additional health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s admission plans lack important details. Records of children’s admissions do not fully explore risks for children. Managers show a lack of professional curiosity and there is a lack of multi-agency working during the admission process. Plans do not reflect accurate and full information about each child. This has contributed to unplanned endings of service for some children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s experiences in the home are varied and some have been placed at risk of harm. One child expressed that they have not always felt safe at the home, and another said that they are unhappy. Other children say that they enjoy their stays, interact positively with staff and are happy in the home. The home is modern, clean and well equipped for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff care about the children and have warm relationships with them. They were observed to support the children in enjoyable activities and decorating the home to recognise Halloween.

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

Children have not always been supervised by staff in the home. At times, staff have not identified that children are at risk of harm or understand the risks to children from others. This has led to incidents taking place. There have been repeated times when staff cannot account for where children are in the home. This has left children at risk of harm.

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

Children’s records do not all capture their risks accurately and do not help staff to safeguard children. For one child, their health needs were not correctly identified. Staff believed that they had a medical condition which increased the risk to them, but the child was still left unsupervised. Staff are not given sufficient direction and guidance in children’s plans and assessments about actions they need to take to safeguard them. Plans do not include individual staffing levels required for each child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 5 Staff do not have a clear and shared understanding of why children display some behaviours. Staff are not all clear if children are distressed or communicating an unmet need. Staff responses to children are not consistent because of this. This leads to confusion for children and does not help them to manage their own emotions and needs.

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

There has been a reduction in medication errors. When errors have occurred, it is not clear what steps were taken to safeguard the child at the time. On one occasion, medications were mixed up and sent home to the wrong families. Staff rectified this when they became aware.

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

Safeguarding partners have been involved in the review of incidents in the home. They have been kept up to date in a timely manner regarding incidents which have occurred and have worked with leaders and managers to take the required action.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not ensured that there are always sufficient trained staff on each shift to meet children’s individual needs. Some staff have left the home in recent months and there has been additional staff absence. This makes it difficult to provide continuity of care to children and has reduced the number of overnight stays which can be offered at the present time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not had clear oversight of day-to-day decision-making on shift. Staff have made decisions around staffing levels and allocation of tasks which have not made the best use of staff’s skills, knowledge and experience. This left less-experienced staff to manage risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings have not been held and there have not been regular opportunities for staff to reflect and plan together. Morale is low in the team as staff have not always felt listened to. Leaders and managers have not ensured that the team of staff work together to meet the needs of children staying in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not notified the regulator of all incidents of concern. A notification was sent late, and another was inaccurate. This prevents the regulator from being aware of the current risks in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The independent visitor has visited the home regularly but has not made a rigorous assessment of the home’s safeguarding practice. Managers have challenged this at times, but their feedback has not always been received by the regulator or has been late. This reduces opportunities to learn and improve practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose for the home does not reflect how children’s individual health and care needs are to be met and what the staff structure looks like when there is a full team in place. Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 6 Monitoring and review processes after an incident are reflective and involve families and relevant professionals. Lessons learned from the review were identified by leaders and managers but were not implemented in day-to-day practice in the home. A recent multi-agency plan is underway, but actions have not yet been addressed and some areas remain untested. Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons 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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(b)(c)) 8 December 2024

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; 8 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 8 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the admissions process is clear and identifies multi-agency working to share knowledge of children’s needs and the risks they face. It must also consider the impact of risks children may pose to other children. 8 December 2024

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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. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, care must be taken so that medication is sent home safely for the correct child. Also, managers’ oversight of 8 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 9 any incident must clearly identify what happened and if appropriate follow up took place to safeguard the child.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, reports must be accurate and sent promptly. 8 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose details the home’s staffing structure and how they meet children’s communication and individual health needs, previous experiences and plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2)  The registered person should ensure that the independent visitor makes an impartial and rigorous assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The report should evidence consultation, follow up of previous recommendations and triangulation of evidence seen. Leaders and managers should also ensure that they oversee the reports within timescales. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 10

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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: 2701417 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3BU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Catherine Richardson

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Rebecca Rowe and Jane Thompson

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Inspectors

Carol Jagger, Social Care Inspector Cherie Chen, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2701417 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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