Dumfries children's care home downgraded
Inspectors deliver verdict on Dumfries children's care home
The region’s only council-run children’s care home has been downgraded by inspectors – less than a year after it moved up to a “good” rating.
The Care Inspectorate carried out an unannounced inspection of Hardthorn Road Children’s House in Dumfries on April 15 and 16 this year.
Inspectors graded the service as “adequate” for the two areas they looked at: how well the home supports children and young people’s wellbeing, and how good its leadership is.
The findings will go before councillors at Dumfries and Galloway Council’s social work committee next Tuesday.
The home can care for up to four children and young people at a time. Inspectors spoke to young people, staff and other professionals, and looked through care and service paperwork during their visit.
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Leanne Young, the council’s locality social work manager and author of the report to committee, wrote: “The inspection identified a number of strengths, including positive relationships between staff and young people, a focus on wellbeing and safety, and support for children and young people to remain connected to family, education and their wider communities.”
She added that the inspection “also identified areas for improvement relating to service consistency, leadership, care planning and quality assurance arrangements.”
An improvement plan has been drawn up to tackle the issues raised. The council has also brought in an independent external review to dig deeper into what is behind the problems and to help support lasting improvement.
The review would “provide objective analysis of the factors contributing to the challenges experienced within the service, identify strengths and opportunities for development, and make recommendations to support sustainable improvement,” Ms Young wrote.
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It comes after the home was upgraded from “adequate” to “good” following an inspection last year, when inspectors praised improvements made in the space of eight months.
The council report confirms that social work chiefs “recognise and support the findings of the inspection and considers them to provide a balanced reflection of the service.”
Leanne Young insisted that the findings “should also be viewed within the context of a period of significant change and improvement activity undertaken within Hardthorn Road over recent years,” pointing to “periods of leadership and workforce instability” in the service’s recent past.
No extra money is needed to carry out the improvement work, as it is being managed within the service’s existing budget. Any further costs linked to recommendations from the independent review will be considered separately.
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