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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 1 SC429523 Registered provider: Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Full inspection 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 has space to offer short breaks for up to four children at once. These children may have complex health needs and learning and/or physical disability. Some children have life-limiting conditions that significantly affect their activities and daily lives. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Nine children are having regular stays in this short-break home.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was having an overnight stay at the home during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 30 November 2023

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/11/2023 Full Good 24/05/2022 Full Good 20/04/2021 Full Good 01/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Nine children are having regular stays in this short-break home. One child was seen and spoken to during the inspection. Children enjoy their short breaks and make exceptional progress because their needs are prioritised by the adults who care for them. Children have been supported to develop their focus and concentration, so they are able to concentrate for longer periods of time. Children have been introduced to new switches or equipment, and staff have strongly supported children to use these. The children appear happy and settled during their stays, and they look forward to their short breaks. The excellent progress that children make is a direct result, not only of the skills, knowledge, and experience of the staff but is also due to their impressive hard work and commitment to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have access to a wide range of opportunities during their stays. This means that they can do activities that they would not usually do at home. When children can have new experiences, this gives parents the confidence to do more with their children at home. Children enjoy spending time with the adults who care for them and seem happy during their stays. They enjoy a wide range of activities both inside and outside of the home. This includes sensory play, going swimming, visiting places of interest or theme parks and having fun outings to the beach. One child enjoyed going on a train to the seaside with the adults during the inspection. Children have also enjoyed visits to the circus, the theatre, or the aquarium. Children explore the local area and have fun doing crafts with the things that they find. The short breaks enable children to spend time with other children so that they can make new friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make excellent progress in this short-break home, and they respond well to the routines and boundaries that are in place for them. All the parents gave positive feedback about their children’s experiences, saying that the staff are fantastic, amazing and absolutely brilliant. One parent commented that the staff do a lot of new activities with their child that they would not even think of doing. They all said that they feel confident their children are being well cared for by staff. Another parent said, ‘The staff can’t do enough for us; we could not wish for a better place for our child.’ When one child had an extended stay at the home due to their family being away, the staff were creative about how to keep the child entertained for an extended period of time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make excellent progress in this home. They benefit from having consistent levels of care from a very stable and experienced care team. Many of the staff have worked in the home for a long time and know the children very well. The staff are skilled and knowledgeable. They have a good understanding of the children’s emotional, health and care needs. The staff can interpret children’s presentation and behaviour, so they know how children are feeling. They can recognise signs that children are unhappy or feel unwell. This ensures that children receive the very best levels of care from adults who know them well. Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 4 There is an open culture in this home, and family members said that that they know that they can call the staff or visit at any time. The adults have an excellent understanding of the children’s needs, and they care for them in a way that maintains their privacy and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

dignity. Staff contact parents and carers before children’s stays to ensure they have up- to-date information about children’s health needs. Following children’s stays, they provide lovely photo diaries about children’s experiences. Staff are always fully prepared with up-to-date information about each child to ensure they receive the absolute best levels of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home is welcoming, clean and comfortable. There are comfortable sofas to sit on and spacious areas for children to play in. The rooms are bright and cheerful. There is a lovely spacious garden for children to play in. Children’s bedrooms are personalised before their stays to help them to feel at ease. There are lovely photos on the walls of children having fun and pictures that children have made with the adults. Children enjoy sitting with staff to access the internet, to read books or to do crafts. Staff communicate well with children and give them meaningful choices about things they might like. One child was seen laughing and smiling when staff sung songs and played music to make them smile.

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

Safeguarding has been managed well in this home. Staff understand the vulnerability of the children that they care for and place children’s needs at the centre of their practice. They take strong and decisive action to ensure that children are safe and well cared for. Staff work hard to identify any potential safeguarding concerns and take prompt action when needed. There has only been one safeguarding incident since the last inspection. This related to a child who needed to be admitted to hospital. Appropriate action was taken by the adults to safeguard the child and to ensure their health needs were met.

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

When staff were worried about the suitability of one child’s equipment, they advocated strongly for them, and this was reviewed by professionals during the child’s short break. The adults then followed this up with parents to ensure that any outstanding action was taken. Children are well supported by professional staff who know how to raise concerns about safeguarding. Staff know the children well and can interpret children’s communication and behaviour, so they understand when children are not well or unhappy.

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

Communication with families, social workers and other professionals is timely and effective in helping to keep children safe and promoting their welfare. A robust transition plan was put in place when one child moved into another home. This included positive contact to share information between this home and the new provider. Video calls were used to help the child get to know new members of staff. The child was provided with positive support and social stories to help them process what was happening. Once they had moved, the staff from this home visited the child in their new home to provide them with support and reassurance, so they were able to settle. This positive level of support Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 5 means that there is a team of staff around each child who are all working together. This helps to keep children safe.

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

There is positive practice around prescription medication in this home. When worries about medication are identified, they are checked and followed up by staff. Regular audits take place, and this supports the manager and staff to ensure that there is good practice in this home. When managers identified concerns about some medication not having the correct labels, this was explored, and appropriate strategies were implemented to improve practice in the home. This helps to ensure that children are being given the correct medication.

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

Staff have regular supervision around safeguarding and have learned from events that have happened in other short-break settings. There is positive and reflective practice seen to be in place. This positive support helps staff learn from the experiences of others to achieve the best outcomes for children.

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

When one child moved into a new placement, there was no independent advocacy provided for them to ensure that their wishes and views were being heard. Children would benefit from having independent advocacy so their views and wishes are being considered when important decisions are being made about their futures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and knowledgeable. She has good knowledge of the staff and the children in this home. The manager is ambitious for children, the home and the staff who work here. There is a real focus on staff well-being that supports staff to come into work with a healthy outlook. This supports the staff to achieve better outcomes for children when they are feeling more positive about their own well-being. Children’s complex needs are understood and well supported. There is a constant drive from the manager to support children to have new experiences and make progress from their starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a stable team of staff who are working consistently with the children. They have a good understanding of the children’s needs and how to care for them. Staff said that they enjoy working in this home. They have regular supervision and access to good levels of training. The staff spoke positively about new training that has been identified to support them in caring for the children. Regular team meetings are held, and these are well attended. This helps to improve practice in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Positive feedback was received from professionals about children’s care. One professional said, ‘The staff go above and beyond to ensure the child has the best experiences and that families feel trust and confidence of their child’s care with them. The team have a very positive ‘can do’ approach so there are no limits to the great activities and experiences that children have. This means the children make progress that is meaningful to them, and this is celebrated by the staff team.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 6 Leaders and managers have good oversight of the arrangements in the home. They understand what is working well and any areas that need further development. The manager has supported staff to record information about children in an appropriate way, and this is evident in children’s records. There are positive levels of management oversight in children’s records to ensure that information is recorded clearly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Independent visits to the home are completed regularly. However, they often take place when children are not present in the home. This makes it difficult for the visitor to fully assess whether children are safe or if their needs are being fully met. This has not been challenged effectively enough by leaders and managers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 7

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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 registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 20 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC429523 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children can access advocacy support, and they should consider the use of an independent advocate where necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.18)

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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: SC429523 9

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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: SC429523 10 regulates and inspects to 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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