Children's Home run by Bramley Care Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report children's home: SC484133 1 SC484133 Registered provider: Bramley Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is owned by a private provider. It provides care for up to 6 children and young people of the same gender who may have emotional and social needs.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of inspection, 2 young people and 1 child were living at the home. All 3 of them were involved in the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in 2017 and is suitably qualified.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC484133 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2024 Full Good 12/06/2023 Full Good 21/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC484133 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people have close relationships with staff and staff know them well. The inspector spent time with all of the children, young people and staff together. It was clear they are all used to coming together for meals and enjoy these times of the day. The home has a warm and relaxed feel, which was also echoed by one parent’s feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to the children and young people. All of the children and young people are settled and have a sense of permanence at the home. One child, who is moving into the home soon, was visiting and said how much they are looking forward to moving in and that they are 'counting the days.' Children and young people described liking their home and their bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 5 young people have lived in the home and have moved on. Some of the young people remained in the home after turning 18 to finish education courses. However, for the 2 current young people, there are no plans in place for how they will move on from the home. This means that the support provided to young people to prepare them for their next move is limited.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children and young people are in school or college. They are all progressing well from their starting points. One child is now attending school regularly after a significant gap. Staff provide a high level of support by going to school or college with the children and young people. This supports children and young people to manage the social aspects school or college as well as the educational aspects.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers have ensured that information is available to children and young people on how to complain. Children and young people are listened to carefully. Staff support children and young people to enjoy lots of activities. Theme nights are looked forward to by children and young people as well as staff. Children and young people plan activities that link into the theme such as bingo and quizzes. Achievements are celebrated well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people benefit from in-house therapy. There are close and effective relationships between staff and the therapists, which enables staff to better support children's particular needs.

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

Children and young people say they feel safe. Staff understand the risks to the children and their particular vulnerabilities well. There have been very few serious incidents, no children have been missing from the home and restraint has not been used. Staff know the strategies to support children and young people. Staff are skilled to de-escalate situations and pre-empt where they need to be or what they need to do. Inspection report children's home: SC484133 4 Restrictions applied by staff in respect of phone use and items being locked away are not tailored to the specific needs of each child or young person. Risk assessments are in place for window restrictors and door alarms, but they are the same regardless of need. These restrictions do not help children and young people to develop their independence. It does not prepare them well for the transitions on to adulthood.

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

Children and young people are informed of the restrictions. Conversations take place with children and young people about why a restriction is in place and they sign to say they have understood this. However, little work is done to reduce the restrictions or to explain to a child or young person what would need to happen for the restriction to be removed.

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

Staff apply clear boundaries for children and young people. Children and young people know the rules and reasons for boundaries that are in place. The team have a cohesive approach, which promotes consistency for children and young people.

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

Children and young people are supported well to have positive relationships with each other. Staff support them well to manage any difficulties in their relationships with peers. Staff model kindness to each other. Lots of work has been done to support children, young people and staff to restore relationships when there are difficulties.

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

Risks around the internet are understood well. However, children and young people have limited access to the internet. This does not prepare children and young people for independence. The risks of young people over 18 living with children are not explicit. There is no clear guidance on how staff should manage particular issues that apply to young people over 18, for example buying alcohol or watching 18 certificate films. This was raised as an issue at the last inspection and sufficient progress to address this has not been made by leaders and managers.

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

Action is taken quickly when there are concerns, information is shared with parents and social workers. At times, this is difficult as young people are over 18. However, staff work closely with young people to support them to share this information.

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

When medication errors have occurred, these have been identified quickly. There has not been any impact on the children and young people. Stronger systems are now in place as a result of the learning from the errors. Staff have repeated medication training recently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by an experienced leader who knows the children and young people well. She has good oversight of the care provided by the team and what is going on in the home. The manager is a strong advocate for the children and young people. She has effectively raised complaints where action has been lacking from other organisations involved in children and young people’s care. Inspection report children's home: SC484133 5 There has been some confusion with the care planning for young people over 18. It is not clear how young people's needs are being met and how they will move on from the home. This impacts the restrictive practice within the home and what is needed for individual young people and what is not.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that children and young people's voices are heard. Concerns are taken seriously and she takes the time to explain situations to children and young people. She is reflective and takes time to check things with others when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel supported by the manager and have regular supervision. There is a good sense of team; staff speak about having a good team around them. Staff model respect to one another and show care for each other, which supports the children and young people to see how to manage relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children and young people are discussed in supervision. Staff benefit from having clinical supervision with therapists as well as supervision with their manager. This helps to give a cohesive approach to care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children's and young people's records generally give good guidance to staff. The manager produces summary documents. These make it easy to see at a glance what is needed to support a child or young person. This helps staff to support children and young people in an emergency situation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals focuses on how children and young people are happy and settled at the home. Inspection report children's home: SC484133 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, 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 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 plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 01 June 2026

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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— that staff—

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 01 June 2026 Inspection report children's home: SC484133 7 manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the provider assessing the risks that are presented by adults and children living together.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the reasons for any restrictions or monitoring in the home environment are recorded clearly. Timescales and mechanisms for review should be specified and children's individual views on these measures should be recorded. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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 children's home: SC484133 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Bramley Care Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, B60 4AD

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Inspector:

Nickie Doney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC484133 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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Inspector:

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