THE region’s only council-run children’s care home suffered a “period of crisis” due to overcrowding and staffing issues, it has been revealed.
And several areas of improvement have been highlighted at the facility in Dumfries after an inspector turned up unannounced two months ago.
The Hardthorn Road children’s care home was graded as “adequate” by the Care Inspectorate following this unexpected visit.
In a report due for Dumfries and Galloway Council’s social work committee next week, it states: “Whilst this is not the evaluation we would aim for, the children’s house has experienced significant challenges over the past years, with the impact being noticeable since Cairnryan House was closed during covid.
“This has resulted in emergency and unplanned admissions, children and young people not being suitably matched, with at times staff caring for more young people than the house is registered for.
“The impact of this on the home environment and feeling of safety for children and young people is significant, as is the impact on the working environment for staff to deliver the best outcomes for our most vulnerable children and young people.”
Social work chiefs described a period of crisis in late 2023 due to a number of factors, which included significant staff absences.
The council report states: “This included the long-term absence of the house manager and the temporary assistant manager. Interim management arrangements were quickly established to provide stability, leadership and management oversight.
“The interim manager has worked tremendously hard over the last year to bring staff back from absences, vacant posts have been recruited to, as well as building a casual/relief bank of staff to build resilience when staff absences occur.
“The interim manager has created a positive culture, direction and a sense of calmness for young people and the staff team which has been evidenced through the recent inspection which is a positive reflection of the steps taken to improve the service.”
An official from the Care Inspectorate turned up on September 24 and 25 this year. At the time of inspection there were four young people living in the house. The inspector spoke to three of them, as well as eight staff, and the interim manager.
Young people told the inspector that they were safe, that staff knew them well, and were responsive to their needs.
The Care Inspectorate report stated: “Young people enjoyed warm nurturing relationships with the staff team.
“There were inconsistencies in staff’s understanding of how trauma affected the young people. Therefore, there were inconsistencies in staff practices, potentially creating uncertainty for the young people. Ongoing training is needed to support staff to embed this into their practice.”
The inspector commented: “There had been instability in the leadership team. This had eroded team morale and confidence.
“The interim manager was creating a supportive and empowering culture. The manager modelled high standards of practice and actively championed the best possible outcomes for the young people.”
The report continued: “Unplanned admissions had previously impacted negatively on young people and the staff team. This remained an issue for staff and was the cause of some anxiety.
“There had been one unplanned admission in the last 12 months. Senior management had given a commitment to this stopping.”
The Care Inspectorate detailed an improvement plan which must be implemented by January 31, 2025.
