A Stockport children’s home which failed to monitor a youngster who tried to buy a knife online and put another in an ‘entirely inappropriate hold’ has been rated ‘inadequate’ in a scathing new report. Ofsted says the home - which cannot be named - is responsible for ‘serious and/or widespread failures’, meaning children are either ‘not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded’.
Run by Care Haven (UK) Ltd, the home provides care for up to five children and was classed as ‘good’ at the last inspection in November 2021. But the latest report - based on a two-day visit in June this year - says there have been ‘significant changes’ to the staff team since then, with the majority having moved on.
Despite remaining staff working additional shifts to provide ‘continuity of care’, officials noted this did ‘not promote stability for children living in the home’. In perhaps the most serious criticism, the home was said to be ‘inadequate’ in how it helped and protected young people.
“Children living in the home are not consistently and adequately safeguarded,” the report reads. “The risk management plans for one child do not provide staff with appropriate strategies to mitigate all identified risks.
"This includes the known risk of the child previously being in the possession of a knife in the home. There is no ongoing monitoring following a further concern in relation to the child trying to purchase a knife online.”
The quality of staff’s relationships with children was also said to vary. While inspectors ‘observed some positive interactions’, youngsters were ‘not receiving appropriate support from all staff, all of the time’.
Staff were also found to ‘not consistently understand children’s needs’, due to ‘gaps’ in knowledge and training. The report also notes how the failure to ‘adequately assess’ one child resulted in a ‘restrictive physical intervention not being proportionate in response to the child’s behaviour’.
Although the necessity of the hold was questioned by the registered manager, the report adds that there was ‘no learning identified from this, or relevant changes made to strategies identified in the child’s individual plans.’ There was also ‘inconsistency’ in the recording of each restrictive physical intervention, including missing information about how long a child was held and variable descriptions of how the child was held.
The report adds: “One child was held by another child and a staff member, which was entirely inappropriate and not safe for either child. This was due to the member of staff working on their own in the home at that time.” The report also notes that one child went on holiday with a staff member and their family, but assessments did ‘not reflect all known risks’ and there was ‘no appropriate vetting undertaken by the manager’.
Inspectors also found that the home’s handling of allegations against staff were ‘not consistently investigated and responded to effectively’. This included recent concerns regarding a staff member’s conduct, which were reported to the registered manager, but not subject to an internal investigation.
Ofsted was not notified of these allegations, as required by regulations.
The condition of several areas within the home were also said to be ‘in need of improvement’- but these maintenance issues were only identified the week before this inspection. Repairs to the furniture in one child’s bedroom remained outstanding for three months.
Another youngster’s bedroom was being redecorated during this inspection, but had been without an appropriate window covering for a month.
“The delay in addressing these issues does not show children that they are valued,” the report notes. The home was issued with a list of improvements it was required to complete by the end of July.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service was unable to contact Care Haven (UK) for comment.
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