Child in care spent weekend in hotel due to risk from other child – Hiqa report

A child in a Midlands residential care home had to stay in a hotel for a weekend for their own safety as they were at risk from another child.

An unannounced visit to the centre was carried out by Hiqa inspectors in October 2018.

Inspectors noted although the staff team did what they could to keep children safe, there were times in the year prior to inspection that children were placed at unnecessary risk.

The centre made a decision to discharge one child on the basis that they posed a risk to other children and these risks were well documented in centre records. Despite this decision,the centre manager told inspectors this child remained in the centre for a further three months as the social work department was unable to find them another placement.

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This meant that children living in the centre were placed at unnecessary risk during this three-month period.

Inspectors were informed by the centre manager that the risk was so high for one child; they were removed from what was essentially their home, to stay in a hotel for one weekend for their own safety.

However, the child who posed the risk remained in the centre. Inspectors noted this was not good practice.

The centre was a six-bedroomed detached house with three bathrooms and was located in a rural area in the Midlands region. It provided medium-to-long-term care for up to five boys and girls aged between 13-17 years on admission.

At the time of the inspection, there were four children living in the centre. Inspectors noted the centre was clean, mostly warm, homely, adequately lit, ventilated and had recently been painted.

Children told the inspector they liked the centre and there was sufficient communal space for them to have privacy or to spend time together.