Concerns raised over standard of care at Cumbria children's home
Inspectors said West Cumbria Care and Support "requires improvement to be good"
Serious concerns have been raised regarding the standards of care, leadership and management at a children’s short breaks service in Cumbria, following its recent Ofsted inspection.
The service is operated by Workington-based West Cumbria Care and Support. According to the inspection report, the children’s home was visited by inspectors over two days in early September.
According to the report the service ‘requires improvement to be good’ in the overall experiences and progress of children and young people, taking into account how well children and the young people are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers.
The home provides care under short break arrangements for up to four children with learning disabilities.
The Ofsted report states: “Shortfalls in the leadership and management have adversely affected children’s experiences and safety during their stay.
“Leaders and managers are aware of some of the shortfalls. However, plans to improve the home environment, the quality of children’s plans and management oversight are not actioned promptly.
“Some staff do not feel well supported by managers. Staff describe poor communication from the management team about which children stay at the home, and the manager also has limited influence over some of these decisions.
“Children enjoy spending time with their peers and attending various activities together. Staff respect children’s views and choices, and some family members provide positive feedback about the children’s care.”
According to the report there were two recommendations, with the first being that the registered person should ensure prescribed medicines are only administered to the individual for whom they are prescribed. It states: “Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. In particular, staff must administer a child’s medication at the time of days specified.”
The second was that the registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. It adds: “In particular, the registered person should support the independent visitor to obtain children’s views.”
The report outlined a number of requirements which were due to be implemented by Saturday (October 31). The Local Democracy Reporting Service approached the provider for comment but no one was available.
The service is commissioned by Cumberland Council and a spokeswoman said: “Where a commissioned service receives a judgement of ‘requires improvement to be good’, we work closely with the provider to understand the inspection findings, review their improvement plan, and monitor progress against the actions identified.
“In this case, we have met with West House on a number of occasions since the inspection to discuss and challenge their improvement plan, and social work teams have also undertaken visits to the home.
“While the inspection identified areas for improvement, the service remains operational.
“We are maintaining oversight to ensure improvements are implemented promptly and to an appropriate standard.”