Children have suffered “unlawful, painful” physical restraint and unjustified use of solitary confinement for up to three days by staff at a secure home near Bristol, government inspectors have found. Ofsted has published a damning report giving Vinney Green, in Emersons Green, an overall rating of inadequate and criticising leaders for “repeated failures” over several years.
South Gloucestershire Council, which runs the institute for young offenders deemed too vulnerable to be placed elsewhere in custody, says it accepts there were “practices happening which shouldn’t have been” and that it has taken immediate steps to address the concerns. In their report published on Thursday, June 9, inspectors said: “There are significant concerns about children’s care, safety and wellbeing.
“Children have been subjected to the inappropriate use of physical restraint, unjustified use of single separation (where children are locked in an area when they meet the legal criteria of being a significant risk to themselves or others) and physical restraint techniques that have caused them pain. These practices seriously undermine the overall positive experiences and progress of the children seen at this inspection.”
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The three-day visit in April came 12 months after Ofsted took enforcement action relating to previous unlawful physical restraint by staff, and the latest report said any improvements had not been sustained. "This demonstrates failure by the registered manager and leaders. This results in negative outcomes for children,” it said.
“The unlawful use of physical restraint, single separation and the use of physical restraint techniques that have caused pain have had a detrimental impact on the health and emotional wellbeing of children.” Ofsted said five children suffered pain out of the 20 recorded incidents where staff used a technique called the “finger and thumb hold” from April 2021 to last March.
“Physical restraint of children has also been used unlawfully to bring about children’s compliance with staff requests,” the report said. "Single separation is not always used in line with regulations, significantly impacting on children’s rights, care and wellbeing.
“A child subject to an inappropriate compliance restraint, which was a serious breach of regulation, was then placed in single separation for two hours. Records show that the criteria for single separation were not met before or during the two-hour period.
“Another incident saw a child locked in their bedroom over a three-day period. Records justified this action for the first day due to the serious risk to others, but there is no evidence that the registered manager’s decision to keep the child locked in their bedroom for a further two days was justified.
“In another incident, mitigation provided by managers was from a theoretical model from 1983 that states children require a 90-minute period to calm. However, the use of single separation for two hours was in the first instance not appropriate and in breach of regulations.
“There are repeated failures in leadership at this home over a number of years that has impacted upon children’s rights, care and wellbeing. Some of the practices at this home are worrying and this brings into question the culture that is set by the registered manager and senior leaders.
“Inspectors remain concerned that the registered manager, leaders and staff do not understand the legal criteria for physical restraint and single separation.” It said three children had their mattresses removed for an entire night because of safety reasons but that this was not justified.
The report said inspectors observed “warm and nurturing interactions” and that planning for children to move on from the home was effective. A council spokesperson said: “The bottom line is that the inspectors have found that there were practices happening which shouldn’t have been, and that the leadership for the home had not been taking the actions they should have to prevent them from reoccurring.
“We take this criticism incredibly seriously because our role first and foremost is to protect the young people who live at Vinney Green, to give them the environment they need to turn their lives around. We share Ofsted’s concern that children in our care have been subjected to inappropriate use of physical restraint and unjustified use of single separation, which has led to Ofsted judging the home as Inadequate overall.
“Following the inspection, we have already taken a number of immediate steps to improve the situation, including providing additional training and support for staff to make it clear what is and isn’t acceptable in relation to restraint and separation. We face challenging situations where we must make split-second decisions, but the guidelines are clear.
“This does not mean that we cannot use restraints or single separation. Young people are with us for good reason and there will be situations when restraint and physical intervention is appropriate and necessary.
“But, we must adopt a different approach to some situations where we may have previously used these techniques. And we must reflect on and learn from these scenarios to limit future flashpoints, supporting staff to adopt new techniques through additional training.
“We are also making some improvements to the building and adapting some of our processes to reduce the likelihood of issues occurring.” They said the authority had brought in additional expert management to help staff address weaknesses.
“We are confident that the measures in place will ensure a very rapid improvement for both the young people in our care and our staff who very clearly want to provide the best support possible for them,” the spokesperson said. “While we are not diminishing the areas where we have been very clearly told that we must improve, there is a great deal in the report which staff can be proud of.
“Specifically, inspectors said we are doing a ‘good’ job in ensuring children’s education and that learning is supported. They saw first-hand the ‘progress children were making in developing new knowledge, skills, and positive behaviours’.
“They also observed ‘caring relationships between staff and young people’ and reported greatly improved education provision since they were with us last. They also noted excellent attendance levels and very good behaviour in classes.
“Ofsted revisited Vinney Green this week as part of the reinspection process and while we expect the formal report from that visit to arrive in around two weeks, inspectors were positive about the work undertaken and the improvements made so far.”
