Safety fears raised in report as Ardersier Country Bumpkins nursery goes into administration
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CHILDREN at an Ardersier nursery which closed without warning at the weekend were at risk of harm according to a report by inspectors who visited the facility last month.
The owners of the Country Bumpkins Nursery announced its closure with immediate effect on their own app on Sunday, telling parents they would be going into administration as of Monday, citing staffing challenges.
A report published yesterday by the Care Inspectorate stated that the nursery failed to look after children in its care including in terms of the safe management and administration of medicine.
The unannounced inspection carried out on May 4 and 5 found ineffective systems in place to store medication and related information.
It said: “For example, medication for individual children outdoors was stored loose in a backpack and some medication indoors was not labelled or dated.
“Some medication information for children was out of date and the service had no effective system in place to monitor and audit this.”
It added that the nursery’s leaders had also not sufficiently developed and implemented child protection policies and procedures, with staff demonstrating a “limited understanding of their roles and responsibilities for safeguarding children.”
And further concerns were raised around infection, prevention and control, also putting children at serious risk of harm.
The nursery received an overall “weak” rating for care, play and learning, setting and staff and scored the worst possible rating of “unsatisfactory” for leadership.
Other concerns raised by inspectors included “ineffective “audit of staff’s registration with professional bodies – resulting in a member of staff who were working with children whilst not appropriately registered – as well as episodes of inadequate supervision of children in outdoor areas.
However, feedback from parents on members of staff was overall very positive within the report.
The report stated that most families felt the staff “knew their children well and were happy with the care their children received, with babies receiving care which was mostly warm, nurturing and supportive.”
Inspectors also noted how children had daily opportunities to play outside, which supported them to be healthy and active, and that most children experienced “nurturing and caring interactions” from staff.
The Care Inspectorate had set a deadline of July 24 for the nursery to address the issues raised around safety and supervision, however, the nursery had announced its closure on Sunday.
Responding to the closure one parent who had two children at the nurser told the Courier: “It was very disrespectful.
“With the rising cost of living, this can really have a big impact on families who can’t afford to stay at home and on members of staff, who have been made redundant at such short notice.
“There is panic and anxiety among the parents.”
They added: “Finding a new nursery will be really challenging: council nurseries have shorter working hours and finding funded places in private nurseries will be really difficult. We might have to send our daughters to two different nurseries.”
Emma Mathieson, the owner of the nursery, has been contacted for comment.
A member of staff who was looking after some of the nursery children said parents were left "heartbroken and upset" at the news, with staff and children were unable to say goodbye to friends and teachers that strong bounds had been made with.
Country Bumpkins' Facebook page has been closed following the announcement on Sunday.
Emma Mathieson, the owner of the nursery, has been contacted for comment at the time of writing.
