TV star's Altrincham children's home banned from taking new placements

Real Housewives of Cheshire star Ampika Pickston is a director at AP Care Homes Limited

Inspectors have barred any more young people for being admitted to a reality TV star's children's home over safety fears and "ineffective leadership".

Ofsted placed the restriction on the Altrincham home, run by Real Housewives of Cheshire star Ampika Pickston's firm AP Care Homes Limited, on 30 January.

It comes after the home's licence was temporarily suspended last year.

AP Care Homes Ltd said it had launched legal proceedings against actions taken by Ofsted.

The home for vulnerable children in Hale Barns was rated "inadequate" in November 2023 after an inspection found "serious and widespread safeguarding failures".

It led Ofsted to suspend its licence until a monitoring visit on 3 January, when the licence was reinstated after "sufficient" improvements had been made.

'Unsafe'

However, according to Ofsted, a further visit on 30 January identified issues including "level of risk, ineffective leadership and poor management oversight".

Inspectors found one child had been cared for at the home since its licence was reinstated earlier that month.

On one occasion the child was taken to hospital with bruising and an injured knee following a "physical intervention" by staff.

The same child left the home after a week as AP Care Homes raised concerns its own staff could not safeguard them, the inspectors said.

They found the child had made two allegations while living at the home, which staff had not reported or "appropriately responded to".

Other "serious shortfalls" discovered included poor assessment of a child's needs, incidents of physical intervention going unrecorded, and that allegations by children were not appropriately responded to.

Ofsted placed a notice restricting accommodation at the home, after the failings made it "unsafe to admit any other children".

"If children were admitted to the home, the risks would be exacerbated," inspectors found.

The regulator said it planned further visits to monitor AP Care Home's efforts to address its concerns.

A solicitor for AP Care Homes Ltd said: "The company is engaged in ongoing legal proceedings concerning Ofsted, following on from an inspection first carried out in November 2023. That inspection resulted in a report which was subsequently withdrawn. Similarly, Ofsted was forced to abandon an attempt to suspend and cancel the home's registration

"The current ongoing proceedings concern further actions taken by Ofsted which the company is challenging.

"The company is unable to comment further on those matters pending the conclusion of the present legal action, when the company can then comment on the true facts.

"The company continues to operate care to high standards and to employ exceptionally well qualified and experienced staff to provide that care."

An Ofsted spokeswoman said the regulator "does not comment on individual providers", who may "appeal to a tribunal if they do not agree with Ofsted's decisions about their registration".

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