Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1159258 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home. One child spoke to the inspector.

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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

Date of last inspection: 26 November 2024

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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: 1159258 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/11/2024 Full Good 06/11/2023 Full Good 08/03/2023 Full Good 05/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1159258 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection, and five children have moved on since the last inspection. These transitions were well planned, with some children progressing to semi-independence and others returning home to family or moving to foster care in line with their care plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and decorated to a good standard. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms in ways that reflect their individual interests. This gives them a sense of ownership and belonging at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care from a nurturing team of staff. They benefit from a consistent staff team who have a strong understanding of their individual needs. As a result, children develop trusting and secure relationships with staff. These strong bonds form the basis for long lasting relationships, where children feel comfortable to remain in contact with staff and seek support from them after they have left the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make progress in their education. When children are reluctant to attend, staff help them understand the value of education and work effectively with external professionals to identify and implement strategies that improve attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to express themselves in ways that feel comfortable and appropriate for them. For one child, staff have created a detailed plan that reflects their individual communication needs. This ensures that staff communicate with the child in a sensitive and consistent manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support and guidance to develop key independent living skills, including cooking and money management. This helps to ensure that they gain the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to successfully move on from the home and live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to participate in activities that they enjoy. This helps to build their self-confidence and contributes to positive outcomes. For example, one child independently sought and gained employment related to their hobbies and interests, demonstrating clear progress towards developing their independence. Children remain connected with people that are important to them. Staff take children to see their family, irrespective of the distance. This supports them to maintain family relationships and retain a sense of identity.

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

Direct work sessions with children support them to learn about the risks associated with their behaviour. Staff use various resources, such as documented research to support discussions with children. Additionally, children are supported to take appropriate risks in accordance with their age and ability. Inspection report for children’s home: 1159258 4 Children spoken to say that they are happy living at the home and feel safe. If they are worried, they are confident that staff will support them and address any concerns that they have.

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

Risk assessments outline children’s current risks and the action staff should take to keep them safe. Despite this, staff have not consistently acted in accordance with these plans to ensure that there is a consistent and effective response when safeguarding incidents occur.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home are not always managed effectively. Records show delays in contacting safeguarding partners such as the police. Furthermore, staff do not always follow children’s risk management plans, resulting in delays in searching for and locating children.

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

Staff responses are not sufficiently effective when concerns arise that children may have misused substances, such as cannabis. For example, room searches are not completed until the following day. This delay means that staff are not assured that children do not continue to have access to harmful substances.

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

Additionally, room search records show that searches for one child were often completed while they were away from the home. This is despite there being opportunities to complete these when the child was present. This does not demonstrate good practice in respecting the child’s right to privacy, while balancing the need to safeguard the child and others living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably experienced registered manager who is passionate about meeting children’s needs. He is supported by an experienced deputy manager and responsible individual. Collectively they form an effective management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the children, their aspirations and future goals. Because of this, they confidently challenge decisions made about children’s futures that are not in accordance with their wishes and feelings. This helps children understand that their views are important.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about the support that they receive from leaders and managers. They value their leadership and the opportunities that they have to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff say they have regular and reflective supervision. Supervision records demonstrate that there is a focus on reflective practice to support staff learning and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are several support systems available to staff. They have access to a range of training opportunities, including needs led training. Team meetings take place regularly, are well attended and used by the registered manager to maintain a collective focus on the children, their progress and support needs. These meetings also provide staff with opportunities to reflect together on the children and the care being provided. Inspection report for children’s home: 1159258 5 Leaders and managers use various systems to monitor the quality of care provided to children. However, they have not identified shortfalls in staff practice when responding to safeguarding incidents. This means that opportunities to address staff learning and development needs are missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 1159258 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;

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders, managers and staff must ensure that effective action is taken when children go missing from home. This includes searching for children in line with their risk management plans.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders, managers and staff must ensure that a room search is completed when there are concerns that children have misused substances. 17 April 2026

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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

promotes their welfare. 17 April 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 1159258 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that safeguarding incidents are reviewed and evaluated to identify good practice and shortfalls.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, leaders and managers must ensure that when shortfalls in practice are identified, appropriate action is taken to reduce the risk of such shortfalls reoccurring. This includes ensuring that where appropriate, staff have access to further training.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, where possible, and especially if children are at home, they consult children about their plan to complete a room search. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that written consent to complete telephone checks are obtained from placing authority or someone who holds parental responsibility for the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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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: 1159258 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Caretech, Parkview, 82 Oxford Road, Uxbridge UB8 1UX

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Natalie Bygrave / Richard Dolan

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Inspector

Chibuzo Otache, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1159258 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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