Ofsted downgrades Staffordshire children's home to ‘inadequate’, amid welfare concerns
Emily Harle
Friday, October 21, 2022
A children’s home in Staffordshire has been judged “inadequate” after Ofsted found severe safeguarding failures less than a year after inspectors rated it “outstanding”.
The inspection of the children's residential care setting, which cannot be named, was carried out in late August after Ofsted was notified of concerns about child welfare and safety.
The home, run by Harmony Childcare Residential Homes, was rated inadequate across all key measures, with severe safeguarding and child protection issues being uncovered.
A previous inspection in September 2021 found the home – which is registered to care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties - to be outstanding overall.
A new leadership team has recently been installed at the home and, according to the Ofsted report, are addressing the shortfalls.
The latest Ofsted inspection report outlined “serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded”.
When safeguarding concerns emerge, “staff and managers do not respond effectively”, it adds.
On two occasions, the staff received information about alleged sexual assaults on children in their care, but failed to act quick enough and share the information with the relevant professionals.
Ofsted also reported that when children spend time in the community there is weak risk management practice, noting that “when a child has not been to an agreed location for staff to collect them, staff do not follow the safety plan and report the child as missing”.
The report also details shortcomings in the safety of the children’s environment, noting mold in two rooms within the home, a broken window, and that some health and safety checks were not up to date.
Inspectors reported “poor and ineffective” monitoring by the leaders and managers in post at the time of inspection.
“Managers do not notify Ofsted of all serious incidents in the home,” the report states, adding that “this shortfall leaves the regulator without essential information to enable them to monitor the home effectively.”
The home appointed a new manager in July 2022 and a new responsible individual in August 2022.
Ofsted reports that this new leadership team have “started to address the shortfalls”.
“To support the development of the service, there have been recent changes to the management structure to improve oversight at the home,” the report states.
As a result of this inspection, Ofsted has issued a compliance notice to the provider, under regulation 12 (the protection of children standard), and the provider has reported that the home met all the requirements of this notice during a compliance monitoring visit on 13 October.
Harmony Residential Homes operations manager Lyndsay Miller confirmed that the home had "undergone a difficult time", but now "remains on track and aims to be back to good/outstanding prior to Ofsted's next full inspection".
"Throughout this period the young people are settled and safe. They are progressing in our care," she added.
