A children's home in Salford is making urgent improvements after a watchdog found a child had been 'overmedicated' and staff were not trained well enough.
The private home, run by Bright Path Care Limited, has been operating since 2023 and previously received 'good' ratings from Ofsted. However, its most recent report found safeguarding 'required improvement' and management was 'inadequate'.
Inspector's findings
Inspector Chibuzo Otache discovered staff had 'failed to identify a child had been overmedicated', meaning they were 'unable to take appropriate action to ensure that the child was not at risk of harm'. There were also problems with medical record keeping, and one child may have missed immunisation jabs.
Otache added: "Shortfalls identified in leadership and management have compromised the quality of care that children receive."
The report also noted staff were 'not supported to carry out their roles effectively', and some had not completed 'essential' training before starting work. One staff member was allowed to work before all necessary references were obtained, which 'has the potential to place children at risk from unsuitable adults', according to Otache.
Positive aspects
The home, which looks after two teenagers, was praised for engaging children in 'meaningful activities', enabling family ties, and seeing a drop in missing-from-home incidents.
Otache added: "Children have opportunities to enjoy meaningful activities with those caring for them. Staff support children in their education and to maintain relationships with those important to them."
New management response
Emma Jones has taken over management since the inspection in June and says many issues have already been resolved before the report's publication.
Jones said: "The team here really cares about our children. Staff have a good relationship with our kids, who actually want to spend time with them – which says a lot, because it's hard to get teenagers in any setting to engage with you."
She added: "The stuff we didn't get right is massively important, because it's about keeping the kids safe, and that's why we've made big changes. But when we have a team that is so dedicated to the children, I think it is easier to bring us back to where we should be, because we can teach them how to keep better records, but we can't teach them empathy and love."
The manager, in place since the end of July, said they had delivered training on medication records and introduced a more rigorous background checking system since the inspection.
