Care Inspectorate: 'Young people's safety compromised' at Dallifour

Care Inspectorate officials visited Dallifour in Kilmacolm and graded the support for children and young people's rights and wellbeing as 'weak' - the second consecutive poor assessment.

A review of the service, run by Greenleaf House, found that allegations of misconduct had been made by young people in care and 'not followed up' by management, while young people 'were at greater risk of harm' due to a 'lack of analysis and understanding of risk' among staff.

A report highlights that the provision of adequately safe care 'had not been sustained and embedded' and had remained a 'critical issue' for the local service.

The residential facility, which is registered to care for one child or young person and supports them in recovering from trauma, was issued with an improvement notice last year by the care watchdogs following a 'pattern of concerns' during inspections.

The latest report notes a 'concerning gap' in children's access to specialist services, stating that staff 'did not have the power, relationships or knowledge' to access resources or advice that could offer critical insights.

READ MORE: Improvement notice for children's home after inspectors find 'pattern of concerns'

'Significant' education gaps were also identified, with inspectors reporting that the service 'endeavoured' to offer education to young people but a 'risk of significant long-term impact' was evident.

The report also states that while the service is 'aiming to improve', the oversight was 'lacking clarity, vision and direction'.

Inspectors said: "The motivation of people working in the service was commendable, however, the repeated pattern of systems failing to protect young people and meeting the needs of young people gave us significant concern.

"We were given assurances that these issues would be addressed."

Positives included a 'stable staff team who worked well together' and 'some good relationships' between staff and young people.

The report adds: "The service had decided not to use any restraint practice. Whilst this was a progressive decision, we found at times this placed staff at risk of harm.

Dallifour in Kilmacolm (Image: Rightmove)

"It also meant that there was an over-reliance on the police attending to resolve conflict.

"During incidents staff were regularly retreating to the office when their communication failed to work. This meant that the response to crisis was not trauma-responsive."

The report goes on to say: "The home was looking poorly maintained in places, with damage being slowly repaired.

"The wider grounds were not being used.

"The toys and resources available for learning were inappropriate for the young people.

"This meant that the home lacked personalisation to make young [people] feel claimed and that they were living in their home.

"The external managers and senior leaders were present, however, had not provided an effective contribution to safe, good and improving outcomes. Critical processes had been missed and quality assurance systems had failed to account for these failings.

"Staff had a basic understanding of the impact of trauma, but additional training will be required to ensure care and support is trauma responsive and not reactive."

A number of requirements have now been made for the service to meet by the end of July, including notifying the Care Inspectorate of details of all allegations of abuse, while a further area for improvement has been issued for better pre-arrival planning around incoming children in care.

Greenleaf House, which operates seven other homes across Scotland, did not respond to a request for a statement and also declined to comment when previously approached by the Telegraph.