Good report for children’s home

INSPECTORS showed up unannounced at the region’s only council-run children’s care home – and discovered that standards had improved considerably.

Officials from the Care Inspectorate arrived without notice at The Hardthorn Road children’s care home in Dumfries on May 21.

Having previously graded the facility as “adequate” nearly a year ago, and noting overcrowding and staffing issues in the past, the inspectors stayed for two days this time.

They spoke with two young people living there, four staff members and the manager, and had feedback from two professionals.

Their assessment saw Hardthorn Road facility upgraded from ‘adequate’ to ‘good’.

The rating was also good for two key areas: children and young people being safe, feeling loved and getting the most out of life; and leaders and staff having the capacity and resources to meet their needs and rights.

Charles Rock, Dumfries and Galloway Council’s head of children, families and justice, wrote: “It is positive to report that improvements have been evidenced within the eight-month timeframe enabling the overall evaluation to increase to ‘good’.

“We fully accept the findings of the inspection and are content with the progress made, recognising some of the previous areas of improvement require more time to be evidenced.

“We have reviewed and updated the action plan to take forward the identified areas of improvement.”

The inspectors listed six key outcomes, four of which were positive and two of which required improvement.

They confirmed young people were safe, experienced nurturing, compassionate care, had connections to the people that were important to them, and were able to access supports and activities.

However, young people’s plans were not consistent and lacked analysis.

The inspectors wrote: “We could see important strengths, with some areas of improvement. The strengths shown had a significant impact on young people’s experiences and outcomes and outweigh the areas for improvement.

“The interim manager modelled high standards of practice and actively championed the best possible outcomes for the young people. Young people benefited from a service that promoted equality and inclusion.”