Behind the Inspection Rating: Care service fits around the child

The ethos of Cromwell House, a short breaks service for children with disabilities, is simple to sum up. According to manager Karen Stones: “The child doesn’t fit into our service, we make the service fit the child.”

This belief filters through everything the Grimsby home, rated outstanding by Ofsted, does. “We have a ‘My Medication’ sheet for each child and it’s written from the child’s perspective,” says Stones. “The sheet will say things like ‘I take this medication because this is what happens if I don’t’. It’s written by the staff from the point of view of the child, so when you pick it up, it is clear whose file it is because it relates to them rather than being jargon. It’s the same for each child’s profile and positive handling plan.”

Child-centred credentials
Cromwell House’s child-centered credentials are reflected in the close attention to the detail of what children want. “I want the children to be happy when they come here,” says Stones. “Sometimes achieving that can involve the tiniest thing that a child suggests, something that might not seem like anything to anybody else but is a really big thing for them. It could be a toy or game they’ve got at home that they are missing and would like to have when they come here.”

On one occasion, Stones recalls, a boy missed out on a school trip to the National Media Museum in Bradford because his electric wheelchair was not charged enough. “They didn’t take him so we took him to the museum so that he didn’t miss out,” says Stones.

The children that use Cromwell House also get to have their say in how the service is run. Ofsted’s inspe