Children's Home run by Bromley Healthcare Community Interest Company in Bromley

Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 1 SC474543 Registered provider: Bromley Healthcare Community Interest Company

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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 registered with Ofsted in October 2006 and is operated by a healthcare organisation. It provides short breaks for up to 12 children who may have physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities and/or sensory impairment.

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Information about this children's home

The manager in post is not yet registered with Ofsted, but an application has been made and is in progress.

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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 or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 11 February 2025

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2025 Full Good 28/11/2023 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Good 19/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The poor leadership and management of the home and poor safeguarding practice have impacted on the overall experiences of the children who come to stay at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some areas of the home need repair and redecoration. Damage caused by a water leak in the building has not been repaired. Additionally, some of the bedrooms have damaged walls that have not been repaired. Bedrooms are personalised for children in preparation for their stay in the home, in line with their tastes and interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

A camera device is used in one bedroom. The use of the device has not been appropriately assessed for individual children, which means it is unclear whether monitoring is used for safeguarding purposes. The parent of one child who stays in this bedroom has not given consent for the device to be used.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children who stay at this home have complex health and/or additional learning needs. Staffing at the home is not sufficient to provide children with adequate supervision. This has an impact on children's safety and experiences when they come to stay at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Families have mixed opinions about the care provided at this home. Some families compliment the staff and report that they are happy with the quality of care provided to children. However, some families have raised concerns about how their children are cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are provided with the opportunity to participate in activities in and out of the home when they come to stay.

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

There have been multiple medication errors. Two children have not received the correct dose of insulin to manage their diabetes. One child received an overdose of their insulin, which resulted in the child having a hypoglycaemic event. Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff are appropriately trained to support children with diabetes.

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

Staff have failed to follow a child's support plan. The child sustained a head injury which was noticed after an incident in the home. Leaders and managers have failed to investigate the incident fully, which means that the cause of this injury remains unknown. Leaders and managers have not responded to the parents' request for an explanation of the cause of the injury, thus causing unnecessary uncertainty.

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

One child went missing from the home as they were able to leave the building unnoticed. Leaders and managers have not provided staff with guidance in children's risk assessments to respond to children when they go missing from the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 4 The extent of physical intervention being used in the home is unknown. Some records indicate that intervention has been used. However, due to the absence of detailed recording, it is not always clear what measure of control has been used. Incidents are not recorded consistently with the requirements of regulation.

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

Risks to individual children are not always identified or assessed. Risk assessments are not kept under appropriate review following a serious incident and they do not always provide staff with clear steps to follow to mitigate some of those risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight is poor. The systems in place to review and monitor safeguarding practices and the quality of care of children are ineffective. There has been an underreporting of significant events to Ofsted, and a failure to take action in response to the independent person reports. This undermines the mechanisms in place to evaluate the safe care of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When shortfalls in staff's practice have been identified, they have not always been fully investigated and investigations have not been timely. It is often unclear what steps have been taken to address the shortfall because records of investigations are poor. Recommendations from investigations that have taken place have not always been acted on. This has prevented learning and allowed poor practice to continue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Complaints have not been investigated in line with the provider's complaints policy. The investigation of complaints has not always been timely, and the outcome of the complaint has not always been shared with the person who has raised the complaint.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not assured themselves that staff are safely recruited in line with the requirements of regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When serious incidents have happened, leaders and managers have not always shared information about the incident with the children's placing authority or the child's family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The core training programme does not equip staff to meet the needs of children with complex health and learning needs. It is unclear what additional child-specific training has been completed because it is not recorded. Staff gave conflicting accounts of the training provided to them. Leaders and managers were unclear about the regulatory requirements for staff achieving a relevant qualification for their role. This has meant that some staff have not been enrolled onto a relevant course and some staff have not completed the qualification within regulatory timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

It is unclear whether staff are having regular supervision. Leaders and managers failed to provide this evidence at the inspection and staff provided conflicting information about the frequency that they receive supervision. Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)) 9 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (3)(c)(i)(ii)) 9 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; 9 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 6 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;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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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

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

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 9 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 7 and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child's placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child's age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child's need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 9 June 2026

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)) 9 June 2026

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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 9 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 8 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, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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 was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(b))

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; 9 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 9 the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3)) 9 June 2026

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 9 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)) 9 June 2026

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 10 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: SC474543 11

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Central Court, 1 Knoll Rise, Orpington, Kent BR6 0JA

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Inspectors

Rachel Webster, Social Care Inspector Angela Ross, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC474543 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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