Bosses at the South Ayrshire Council-owned 28 Cunningham Place were told last year to take “urgent and decisive” action to improve service delivery.

The Care Inspectorate have declared themselves ‘pleased’ with the progress made on service delivery at a previously under-fire children’s home in Ayr.

Bosses at the South Ayrshire Council-owned 28 Cunningham Place were told last year to take “urgent and decisive” action to improve service delivery.

The warning followed an inspection by the Care Inspectorate last summer that flagged up a number of issues which they said needed ‘immediate attention.’

At the time the Care Inspectorate expressed concerns over the safety of some children living at 28 Cunningham Place.

Among the other key issues, they said there were “risks to young people’s safety,” with some youngsters admitting they “felt excluded.”

And staff were “not consistently providing” trauma-informed care, while there was a “limited knowledge” of children’s rights and how to support their rights.

Last year’s report also concluded that many staff “did not feel supported” by the managers and external managers, nor “did they feel that they benefited” from regular advice and guidance through effective supervision, team meetings, handovers, or a supportive team of peers.

As a result the home was graded as ‘weak’ across the quality indicator relating to how it supports children and young people’s rights and wellbeing.

However, some of the requirements handed down to care home bosses following the last inspection have now been put in place.

The news follows a fresh inspection at the setting in February – with the findings now published.

Among the key messages the Care Inspectorate said young people were making “good progress” through their plans. This included the service “supporting” young people under continuing care arrangements.

And staff training plans had been “significantly developed” to ensure staff received training in child protection, adult protection, trauma-informed practice and children’s rights.

The plus points continued; the staff and leadership team were “working hard” to “embed training” within the service’s ethos and culture to ensure children and young people received rights based, trauma-informed care.

The staff and leadership team had also developed internal information sharing systems and “improved staff communication” to ensure young people were “kept safe.”

And the leadership team had taken “decisive action” to improve service delivery and were “knowledgeable” about aspects of the service which were “working well” and areas “requiring further development.”

An extract from the latest report states: “It was pleasing to see that staff had completed child protection and adult protection training. Those staff who had not completed training had been unable to do so due to absences, and this was being prioritised and planned.”

The report continues: “It was pleasing to see that staff had completed trauma training, training in relation to children’s rights and it was pleasing to see that a plan had been developed, detailing how the service plans to embed a trauma-informed model of care within its ethos and culture.

“We found that the service required some additional time to embed these plans into practice.”

It was also noted that the service provider had ensured that there was an “experienced manager,” present within the service, to “prioritise the needs” of the young people.

And an improvement plan “had been developed” to support the creation of an “open learning culture.”

The report adds: “It was pleasing that the service had continued to build on progress made since the last inspection. We found that the service had continued to implement gradual changes to staffing teams to ensure the correct number of suitably qualified staff on shift, with a mix of skills and experience.

“Whilst we found the service had experienced some staffing pressures, this was mitigated, and the service was actively recruiting.”

A spokesperson for the South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership said: “The Health and Social Care Partnership are grateful to Cunningham Place leadership, staff and young people, who have worked tirelessly together to deliver on the improvements that the Care Inspectorate highlighted in their inspection in June 2024.

“We are so pleased that the Care Inspectorate have recognised the excellent care that South Ayrshire provides to its Children and Young People, in particular in Cunningham Place Children’s House.

“The evidence of improvements in such a short period of time, is down to the concerted efforts of leadership, staff and young people working together to deliver on this really positive report.

“As a partnership we will continue to strive to implement improvements to provide the best possible care to the communities of South Ayrshire.”

Cunningham Place is a registered care home service provided by South Ayrshire Council. The service provides care to a maximum of seven young people.