Children's care home rated inadequate by watchdog
Nottinghamshire County Council runs the service
- Published
A children's care home has been rated inadequate by an industry watchdog.
Oakhurst residential home in High Oakham Road, Mansfield, cares for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties or moderate learning difficulties.
Ofsted inspectors issued two notices ordering the home to improve following their visit on 21 and 22 May.
Nottinghamshire County Council, which runs the service, said a manager was brought in from another care home within a week to oversee rapid improvements.
The facility was previously rated good by Ofsted, which monitors education and children’s services.
A restriction on how many people can be looked after at the facility, which can care for up to four children, has also been put in place by the watchdog until September.
The grade will be discussed at a meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Corporate Parenting Panel next week.
A county council report on the issue says: “The [new] manager is skilled, highly experienced, and well regarded within the service.
“The manager has already started to implement new systems in the home and provided clear structure, systems training and guidance for the staff team.
“The new management team has reviewed and updated all risk assessments, safety plans, behaviour management plan and baseline assessments. These assessments are now in line with children’s current and ongoing identified needs.”
A full report has not been published yet as Ofsted delays releasing its assessments on local authority-managed facilities in the run-up to elections.
In response to the report, a Nottinghamshire County Council spokeswoman said it was committed to high standards of care for all Nottinghamshire’s looked after children.
She added: "We had already recognised some of the issues raised by Ofsted, and are currently taking urgent action to address all of the concerns and improvements identified.
"We are confident that the right plans are in place to improve the experiences of children."
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