Children's Home run by N H Care Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 1 SC432966 Registered provider: N H Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and provides care for up to 4 children with physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities. 3 children live in the home, and all were seen and spoken with as part of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2024 and is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement

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requires improvement

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2024 Full Good 12/09/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/01/2023 Full Good 18/10/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s moves into the home are not always thoroughly planned. Although information is gathered and pre-placement visits take place, managers do not consider whether they have sufficient consistent staff before agreeing to new children moving in. Despite this, children have settled in well and have remained living in the home due to additional support that has been put in place.

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improvement to be good

The manager has a disorganised style of management. This has led to a lack of attention to the oversight of staff practice, which could affect children’s care. An overreliance on agency workers to appropriately staff the home means that children do not always receive consistent care.

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improvement to be good

Children make good progress from their starting points. They have good relationships with the established staff who care for them; 1 child said that they are happy and like the staff. However, they live in an environment that is not clean, have access to broken toys and there is a lack of continuity of staff. Furthermore, staff do not spend time ascertaining children’s views effectively.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met. Children benefit from healthy diets and physical exercise, which has helped previously overweight children to achieve a healthy weight. Staff support children to attend health appointments and seek specialist advice when needed.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise the importance of education. 2 children attend school full time and are making good progress. Another child has a tutor who visits the home and there is good partnership working to try to identify a suitable school for them.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a range of activities both in and out of the home. They have enjoyed trips to a local animal park, a sea life centre and regular walks to the park. 1 child has recently been on their first ever holiday. These experiences help children to learn about the wider world.

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improvement to be good

The home environment requires improvement. Some areas of the home are unclean, including paintwork, carpets and windows in children’s bedrooms. There were broken toys in the garden. These were removed during the inspection. There is ongoing regular maintenance to the home, and children’s bedrooms are personalised, however more attention is needed to general cleanliness.

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improvement to be good

Children are consulted and staff understand their individual forms of communication. However, records do not always represent the child’s voice. It is often unclear how preverbal children’s views have been gathered and comments recorded are clearly those Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 4 of staff and not children. This limits understanding of children’s feelings about living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment records are disorganised. references for 1 person were not easily found, and there was no evidence that a disclosure and barring service check had been completed for another person. This means that sometimes staff have not been thoroughly vetted before they work with vulnerable children.

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improvement to be good

Children are kept safe through high staffing ratios and a good understanding of risk. Some children are subject to deprivation of liberty orders and agreed safety measures are consistently implemented to maintain children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour is managed well and there has been a significant reduction in incidents for some children. Staff understand the triggers for children’s behaviour and are consistent in their approach. Restraint is only used as a last resort by trained staff.

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improvement to be good

Medication is stored and administered effectively. Staff are trained and there are clear processes in place which consider children’s dignity when they need to undress to have medication applied. There has been good learning from medication errors and there have been no further incidents.

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improvement to be good

Complaints are managed appropriately. Investigations take place as agreed with children’s placing authorities and the complainant is always notified of the outcome. For example, when a child’s behaviour affected a member of the public, the manager ensured that they were aware of the outcome and attempted to repair the relationship.

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

The home does not have sufficient permanent staff to meet children’s needs without relying on agency staff. Despite ongoing recruitment, the home is consistently using agency workers, and the manager is also sometimes covering shifts. Although this means that children’s agreed staffing levels are met, it does mean some inconsistency in the adults caring for vulnerable children.

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

Leaders and managers lack oversight of staff training, particularly for new and agency staff. Some records were out of date meaning it was difficult to establish which staff had completed training relevant to the specific needs of children. In addition, there was no record of training for a new member of staff who had previously worked at another of the provider’s homes, and assumptions were made about the training they completed. Some staff have still not completed their qualifications despite this being identified at the last inspection. Few of the staff team are qualified but most have now been enrolled onto the relevant course, and their progress is being monitored. Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 5 The manager’s monitoring is hindered by poor organisation of information. Several different administration systems are in use, leading to the manager being unclear where documents are stored. Some care planning documents were missing and had not been

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

identified through monitoring, and technical issues mean that the manager has been unable to review some important records for some time. In addition, discussions with staff, after incidents, are completed as a group rather than individually, which limits staff’s ability to openly share any concerns. These shortfalls in monitoring limit leaders’ and managers’ ability to monitor staff practice and the quality of care being provided to children.

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

Staff feel supported. They receive regular supervision that help them to reflect on their practice. They also learn from colleagues in team meetings, and this helps staff to work well as a team. Staff gave positive feedback about the way that managers and senior leaders support them and the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 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 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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 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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home

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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)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are sufficient permanent staff to care for children according to their care plans, and that new children are not admitted to the home until sufficient staff are in place. In addition, leaders and managers must satisfy themselves about the training new staff have completed and ensure that all staff complete training relevant to children’s specific needs. Furthermore, the registered person must ensure that the condition of the home is continuously monitored and that a high level of cleanliness and maintenance is consistently achieved. In addition, the registered person must ensure that administration systems are organised 21 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 7 effectively to allow easy access to and monitoring of children’s records. Also, the registered person must ensure that staff involved in incidents are spoken to individually afterwards to

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Requirement Due date

allow them the opportunity to freely share their views. Any feedback should be used to monitor practice in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the 21 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 8 date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(b)(c) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all required checks are completed before allowing a person to work in the home, and that administration systems are used effectively to record such checks. In addition, they must ensure that staff are supported to achieve the required qualification within the expected timescales.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Specifically, children’s views should be sought after all incidents. Records of discussions should demonstrate the child’s voice and not the views of the adult who spoke to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 9

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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: SC432966 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 69 Steward Street, Business Lofts, Steward Street, Birmingham B18 7AF

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Inspector

Vicky Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC432966 11 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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