Sefton care home banned from taking more children by Ofsted

A child took an overdose after medication was not property stored at the home, Ofsted said

Inspectors banned any more children being sent to a care home in Sefton after finding a series of failings and rating it "inadequate".

Ofsted said a child had taken an overdose when medication was not safely stored at Clumber Lodge Care Home.

It also said the home failed to record whether youngsters were injured during "physical intervention".

Nugent Care 19, which runs the home, said it still had a "good reputation" for providing "life-changing" care.

But Ofsted rated the home as "inadequate" after an inspection in October 2021.

It said: "Medication, including controlled drugs, have not been stored securely. On one occasion, a child got hold of a large amount of medication.

"The child took an overdose and required medical attention, leaving them at risk of significant harm."

It said the home, then looking after 11 children, was "failing to provide effective care and support".

Inspectors found a child had been sleeping on a broken bed, and another told them it was "not a happy home".

The report described problems about restraint, with records of physical intervention failing to give detailed accounts of the incidents, whether children suffered injury, or the child's view of what had happened.

Manager absent

Police had to be called several times to help staff manage children's behaviour.

Ofsted said this showed that concerns about a lack of safe and responsible care, which were raised at previous inspections, had not been addressed.

"The registered manager and staff have a reactive approach which has resulted in physical interventions and an increase in challenging and aggressive behaviour."

It said there were "serious shortfalls" in leadership, with the registered manager absent since September 2021.

Staff shortages and high turnover were so severe that at one point "children have been looked after by 12 different people on the same day."

The report also criticised pre-employment screening of staff as inadequate.

Responding to the report, Nugent Care's CEO Normandie Wragg, told the Local Democracy and Reporting Service (LDRS) that Clumber Lodge previously had an "outstanding" rating and still held a good reputation for providing "life-changing and outcome focussed care and support to children and young people".

She said its status had changed due to "internal changes" but that Nugent Care was working closely with Ofsted, the local council, and its own staff to "improve the quality of our offering so that the children in our care have the best possible experience that we can offer them".