Council / ‘Old and poorly maintained’ Laburnum criticised in inspection report
SHETLAND Islands Council (SIC) has been urged to refurbish a Lerwick building being used to provide overnight care for young people with learning difficulties.
Short Breaks for Children received an overall “adequate” report from inspectors following a surprise visit by Care Inspectorate Scotland to the service earlier this year.
Inspectors criticised Laburnum House, in the town’s Burgh Road, calling it “old and poorly maintained”.
It said some remedial work had been carried out “when the situation is dire and equipment unusable”, but urged a full programme of refurbishments to be made instead.
They also found that there had been a high number of absences among the senior staffing team, and said there were “issues of mistrust and poor staff morale”.
The concerns around Laburnum echoed a report from inspectors in March 2024, in which they also criticised the facility.
In the latest report, inspectors said Shetland Islands Council should review whether Laburnum “continues to meet the needs of the service users”.
They added that any work which would “ensure their comfort and safety” should be carried out “promptly”.
Inspectors said that an area of improvement on Laburnum from 2024 had still not been met and would remain in place until their next visit.
In a statement, the SIC said the report provided a “fair reflection” of the findings by inspectors.
It pledged to develop an action plan to tackle the improvement recommendations being made by the Care Inspectorate.
Short Breaks for Children offers overnight breaks for up to six children and young people with learning difficulties and multiple complex needs at Laburnum, with a further two young people being cared for at a smaller property at Haldane Burgess Crescent.
Care Inspectorate Scotland visited both properties unannounced on 18 and 19 January this year.
It found that the physical environment across the two houses was “very different”.
“One provided a smaller more homely space which was well-maintained, where the other was much less so,” inspectors said.
“Many previous inspection reports had assessed the building at Laburnum as restricting innovation and service development.
“At this inspection the limitations of the Laburnum building continued to restrict the service’s ability to develop innovative models of support for children with complex needs.
“Staff continued to try to make the spaces in the house as young person friendly as possible, however, the building is old and poorly maintained.”
‘Sense of uncertainty’ with staffing
Inspectors also found that there had been “significant changes and periods of absence” across the senior staff and management teams.
This had “contributed to a sense of uncertainty and significantly affected team cohesion and morale,” they found.
They said that senior staff spent a large amount of time completing admin tasks, which was “significantly reducing their important role in modelling good practise and supporting staff’.
Inspectors added this was not the first time they had found this at Short Breaks.
“This had contributed to an unhelpful culture and a divided team,” they said.
“Addressing this will be key to strengthening leadership, enabling senior staff to spend more time alongside colleagues and young people, and to a more unified and supportive team culture.”
They found that the current approach to staff rotas was “ineffective” and needed “significant change” in order to provide “stability and consistency” for children.
“Parents reported that when their children had time at Short Breaks, they had a good experience with caring staff, however, they were dissatisfied about the impact of regular cancellations.
“Documentation evidenced that rates of cancellation were extremely high, and continuing to increase.”
‘Nurturing relationships with staff’
However inspectors also praised staff at Short Breaks, saying that they were all “committed to, and enthusiastic about, the young people they cared for”.
“Staff understood the needs of the young people and were keen to ensure they had really positive experiences.
“Young people clearly benefitted from warm and nurturing relationships with staff.”
Short Breaks was rated as “good” for children and young people feeling safe, loved and getting the most out of the service.
However the service was rated as “adequate” overall for its support of children and young people’s rights and wellbeing.
In its areas for improvement, Care Inspectorate Scotland said young people should be cared for in a “high quality environment which meets their needs”.
It said that Laburnum needed to be brought up to a high standard through significant upgrades to the building.
And inspectors added that the SIC needed to “radically review” how the service worked to minimise cancellations and absences, to provide stability and consistency.
The SIC said the inspection report “provides a fair reflection of the Care Inspectorate’s findings.”
“The service is now developing a detailed action plan to address the six recommendations identified,” it said.
“In relation to the physical environment, the service will undertake a strategic review to assess and forecast future need. This will inform how short breaks for children are delivered in the future, and will be guided by the Care Inspectorate’s guidance.
“Any immediate issues will be addressed promptly alongside the development of a longer-term plan to ensure the service continues to meet the needs of children and families.”
Education and families committee chairman Davie Sandison said he had received reassurances from the team about what position Laburnum was in since the inspection.
“I’m happy to see that the senior staffing pressure has receded and the key personnel are back from long term sick leave,” he said.
“The key point is that a review of the options for the service, including the buildings, is to be conducted, recognising the challenges that an older setting presents.
“I will be keen to see what is recommended from the review and at present I’m happy with the action being taken to respond to the improvement recommendations in the report”.
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