Care home for children in Mansfield, run by council, is branded 'Inadequate'

Oakhurst Residential Care Home for Children, on High Oakham Road, was visited by Ofsted inspectors last month, and received the lowest possible grade after previously being rated ‘Good’.

The home is run by Nottinghamshire County Council, which says a manager has been sent in from another care home to oversee rapid improvements.

Oakhurst looks after up to four children with emotional and behavioural difficulties or moderate learning difficulties. They receive specialised care in a safe and nurturing environment.

Ofsted, which monitors schools and children’s services, has issued two compliance notices, which are used to ensure places raise standards to meet its legal requirements.

A restriction on how many children can be looked after at Oakhurst has also been put in place by the watchdog until September.

A full report hasn’t been published yet because Ofsted is delaying releasing its assessments on places run by local councils in the run-up to the general election.

The ‘Inadequate’ verdict will be discussed at a meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council’s corporate parenting panel next Tuesday (July 2).

A county council report on the issue says: “The new manager is skilled, highly experienced and well regarded within the service.

“The manager has already started to implement new systems in the home and has provided clear structure, systems training and guidance for the staff team.

“The new management team has reviewed and updated all risk assessments, safety plans, behaviour management plans and baseline assessments. These assessments are now in line with children’s current and ongoing identified needs.”

The report adds: “The ethos of the home is to ensure each child at Oakhurst feels valued and listened to, and has a positive experience of living in residential care.”

The county council runs three similar mainstream homes, with the others being the three-bed Lyndene site in Edwinstowe and West View in Pleasley.

Caudwell House in Southwell is a 12-bed residential home for disabled children, and The Big House in Edwinstowe provides support for up to 27 children with disabilities. Both of these are currently rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Last year, the county council admitted that it was struggling to recruit and keep staff at its children’s homes.

In the wake of this Ofsted verdict, a spokesperson for the county council said: “We are committed to high standards of care for all of Nottinghamshire’s looked-after children.

"We had already recognised some of the issues raised by Ofsted, and are currently taking urgent action to address all of the concerns and improvements identified.

“Some of the changes are already in place, including a new, highly experienced registered manager, and a review of and an update of risk assessments, new safety plans and behaviour management plans.

“We are confident that the right plans are in place to improve the experiences of children so that they receive the quality of care they need and that we expect to be in place.

"We are committed to making positive changes within the home and striving to improve the Ofsted rating at the next inspection.”