Improvements were required at Mount Pleasant Nursery in Thurso after new inspection by the Care Inspectorate – Highland Council says any requirements have since been met
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A Caithness nursery has been ordered to make a number of improvements following an unannounced visit by the Care Inspectorate.
An inspection of Mount Pleasant Nursery, at Mount Pleasant Primary School in Thurso, was carried out in September and the findings have now been published.
The service, which is provided by Highland Council, is registered to provide a care service to a maximum of 60 children aged from three years old.
Inspectors had previously asked the manager to review procedures for managing medication to ensure it followed best practice guidance.
However, during the most recent visit, when looking at the area of the quality of the care and learning they found that information on children’s allergy needs were not effectively recorded and readily available to staff.
The report states: “As a result, staff did not have clear and accurate information around children’s symptoms and dietary needs. Staff also lacked awareness around children requiring medication.
“Staff told us that no children required medication, but we identified through our inspection that there were children who needed medication.
“This had potential to put children’s health, safety and welfare at risk. This now forms part of the requirement under this quality indicator.”
The report makes a requirement that the provider must ensure personal plans and information relating to allergies and medication set out children’s current needs and how they will be met.
In addition, all staff should be aware of and understand the information within the personal plans and use this to effectively meet each child’s needs – personal plans should also be regularly reviewed and updated.
The report states that these changes should have been completed by today.
It also highlighted two areas for improvement – the first being that the provider and manager should review the lunch time experience to promote opportunities for developing independence, language and communication skills.
The second area for improvement was that the manager should support staff to improve planning processes to ensure play and learning experiences are relevant and responsive to children’s ideas and stage of development.
In the area of the nursery’s leadership, the inspectors have ruled that the provider and manager must develop and implement an effective system of quality assurance to monitor and improve all areas of practice and improve outcomes for children by December 3.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The school and nursery are aware of the needs of all their children and take their health, safety and welfare extremely seriously. Any requirements from the Care Inspectorate have been met.”
