Troubled Loch Ness-side care centre on 'journey of improvement' after inspection
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A COUNCIL run care home for young people suffered from having no manager for months an inspection revealed.
Inadequate staff training also contributed to poor grades from a Care Inspectorate visit in June.
A new manager is now in place at Leault, Abriachan, and the centre has embarked on a “journey of improvement” according to the report.
Highland Council has installed a new management team and laid out a development plan since the inspection.
Leault cares for up to five young people with more complex and challenging behaviours.
Support for the young people’s wellbeing was rated “weak” .
The report said: “Young people told us they were able to form meaningful relationships with some staff and we observed good interactions between staff and young people.”
But there were times when staff lacked the skills, experience and “underpinning therapeutic framework” to cope with the very complex needs and challenging behaviour of some young people.
The report added: “This often led to challenging behaviour spiralling out of control and staff relying on police to defuse the situation.
“Feedback from the care team and social workers indicated that the service was now more settled and systems were being put in place to support staff in their role and provide better outcomes for young people.”
However the report continued: “We received information from staff, social workers and other professionals, including the police, about serious incidents at Leault over the last 18 months.
“There were examples of systematic bullying among young people, violence to young people and staff, absconding, substance misuse and child protection concerns.
“Both staff and social workers told us they were concerned about the physical and emotional wellbeing of young people during this turbulent time.
“We looked at documentation that suggested incidents had only started to reduce in frequency in the last few weeks following a change in young people staying in the service.
“During this period Highland Council used holiday lets to remove young people from Leault in an attempt to support all young people.
“Whilst we found the care team to have a caring and nurturing ethos this was not underpinned with a theoretical framework which informed practice and interventions, supported young people with complex needs, and led to good outcomes for young people.
“The impact of this meant that staff at times lacked experience and understanding to engage in early intervention to take effective action to de-escalate risky or confrontational situations.
“This meant that challenging behaviour quickly deteriorated into very challenging situations. It put young people’s safety and wellbeing at risk.
“The provider (council) must ensure all staff are fully trained in child protection and aware of their responsibilities in regard to protecting children.”
Regarding leadership, rated “adequate”, the inspectors noted Leault had been without a manager for a considerable time, and the current manager, in post since October 2020, had identified “increased management support” as a key area for development.
Inspectors saw progress in the development of the service and this was confirmed in feedback from the care team, social workers and other professionals who acknowledged concerns about the lack of management and the stress this put staff under, as well as serious issues with inconsistencies in the way young people were cared for.
Highland Council said: “We were aware of the difficulties being experienced within the service prior to this inspection and appointed a new management team in October last year who have been working with the staff team and young people to address these.
“A service development plan has been put in place and progress is being achieved in bringing about the necessary improvements to the service. The council notes the positive comments contained within the report acknowledging this and will submit an action plan to the Care Inspectorate in response to the report identifying the measures that are being taken to ensure the continuous improvement of the service.”
