Action for Children – Lisalanna Care Home Service, based in Cumnock, was subject to an unannounced inspection by the Care Inspectorate in January with the findings now published.

A care home for children with learning disabilities and those with a physical disability has been asked to improve certain aspects of its care provision.

Action for Children – Lisalanna Care Home Service, based in Cumnock, was subject to an unannounced inspection by the Care Inspectorate in January with the findings now published.

The service was graded as ‘adequate’ in the quality indicator relating to how well the setting supported children and young people’s rights and wellbeing.

Among the key messages the Care Inspectorate said young people were “supported” with their health and education needs, including accessing specialist health and education services.

And staff were “respectful” and “prioritised” young people’s dignity and care.

However, child protection, adult protection and whistleblowing procedures were “not fully understood” by the staff and management team, according to the report.

And leadership required to ensure staff received “appropriate training,” and that “suitable” staffing arrangements and quality assurance processes were “in place.”

Lisalanna is a registered care home service provided by Action for Children. The service provides care to a maximum of five young people with learning disabilities, some of whom may also have a physical disability. The service offers long-term residential placements, as well as short breaks.

An extract from the Care Inspectorate report said strengths were identified in supporting positive outcomes, but these were only “just outweighed” by areas for improvement.

The report goes on: “Observations of young people, and feedback from stakeholders, indicated that people using the service felt safe. We found that the majority of staff had not received up-to-date child protection training, and there was no adult protection training in place.

“We found that protection and whistleblowing procedures were not consistently understood, and led to the service failing to respond appropriately to indicators of concern.”

Inspectors also found that incidents in the home were “not clearly and timeously recorded” and “omitted key details.”

The report states: “This had the potential to increase the likelihood of failing to respond appropriately to indicators of concern. We found that the service was not consistently notifying the Care Inspectorate, or that notifications were delayed, or lacked important information.”

The Care Inspectorate also picked up on medication issues, saying young people “needed support” with their medication and a review of medication procedures highlighted areas which “could be improved” including the “management, follow-up and recording of medication error incidents.”

However, the report concedes that it was “pleasing” that the service had amended medication processes, and had further staff medication training “planned.”

The report continues: “There was not a consistent understanding of children’s rights. The service had some training scheduled, however this did not include children’s rights, and training plans required significant development. There was limited evidence of young people having access to advocacy services, and how this was supported by the service. There was limited evidence that young people were fully engaged in their care and support, and this could therefore compromise their rights and identity.”

In addition, there was “no evidence” that staffing arrangements were informed by “formal continuous assessment.”

The service has been given until May 10 to fulfil a number of requirements needed to improve service delivery.