A privately-owned children’s home in South Holland requires improvement following a recent inspection by Ofsted.
The home can care for up to four children with learning disabilities and is owned by Quality Care Homes (UK) Ltd, a Croydon-based provider.
It has been given a list of requirements which need to be carried out in order for it to meet the criteria to be a ‘good’ home. The home was first rated as ‘requires improvement’ in March and is ‘not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people,” says the report.
“However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted,” noted the report.
There are some areas of the home ‘that are not homely.’
“A few of the children’s rooms have curtains in place that are poorly fitted and in need of updating. A window in the hall is cracked and has not been replaced. No efforts have been made yet to gain the children’s views about the decor of the home. One living room is very bare and uninviting. One of the children’s social workers describes this room as ‘sterile’,” the report says.
Staff help children in decisions about their lives and enable them to make informed choices.
The children can now also access the kitchen, but there are no plans for staff to help them understand risks in the kitchen.
“Plans for the children’s personal care are not effective. The staff do not involve the children in designing the plans for their own personal care. There are no clear plans in place to help the children with personal care tasks and encourage good hygiene,” the report says.
“The manager has made some efforts since the last inspection to rectify the substantial gaps in one member of staff’s employment history. However, there was no evidence to suggest that this staff member’s references from previous roles involving vulnerable groups have been verified.”
The home, the location for which is not mentioned, has now been given a deadline of August 14 for a raft of improvements to be implemented.
Among those is that a registered person must ensure an independent person visits the home at least once each month.
“Clear plans are needed for staff to follow that involve the children’s choices and promote dignified care,” says the document.
The home must be ‘nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children’, it adds.
