A children's nursery on the Manchester Royal Infirmary site has been accused of putting children at risk in a recent report by government watchdog Ofsted. The First Steps Day Nursery, which is on the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) Oxford Road campus, has been rated Inadequate.
It comes after inspectors reported that staff place blankets under the heads and near the faces of babies while they sleep, posing a risk of suffocation. Inspectors also accused leaders of being 'too lax' in their monitoring of the nursery resulting in a 'catalogue of failings' which negatively impacts children.
The NHS trust which runs the nursery described the Ofsted rating as 'disappointing', and said it was a 'snapshot from three months ago' and they have already made improvements. Inspectors who visited on June 24, says standards at the nursery had 'significantly declined' since the last inspection in October 2016.
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The Ofsted report, which was published earlier this month, deemed the nursery 'inadequate' in all areas, demoting it from a previous rating of 'good'. It said: "Leaders have failed to comply with legal requirements, which puts children at risk. Leaders do not deploy staff to meet the needs of all children."
The inspectors described the sleeping arrangements at the nursery as 'extremely poor', claiming they pose a 'suffocation risk' to the children. Inspectors also said staff place babies in rooms with older children because there is 'not enough space' and hold them in their arms for prolonged periods to make sure they are safe, affecting their quality of learning experiences.
They also found that the activities for children are sometimes pitched too low or too high. Some poor hygiene practices were also identified, such as staff wiping children's noses and not washing their own hands before tending to the other children.
Too frequently, the report said, younger children cry for long periods and do not settle, leaving them distressed for too long, according to the inspectors. Staff attend mandatory training and have annual appraisals, according to the report, but they do not receive supervision sessions from leaders, it added.
Many staff reported that morale is low and their workload is unmanageable. Overall, Ofsted also found the safeguarding arrangements were not effective.
A spokesperson for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs First Steps Day Nursery, said: "Naturally this is a disappointing rating but the inspection report is a snapshot from three months ago. The inspectors did not feel they needed to put any restriction on the nursery and its operation.
"We immediately developed an action plan to regain our ‘Good’ rating and we’ve seen several improvements already. The inspectors noted how positive parents were about the nursery and our staff, and a special meeting was held with parents, where they could ask any questions they had."
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