Portsmouth respite home staff withheld food from vulnerable 'hungry' child, report reveals

A vulnerable hungry child had food withheld from her at a respite home in Portsmouth, a report has revealed.

Beechside Respite Care Home has been temporarily closed after an Ofsted inspection in November 2022 found "serious and widespread" failures of senior care leaders had left "highly vulnerable children" at risk of harm.

As well as being denied food, the child was also placed away from her communication methods.

On a separate occasion, another child had an object thrown at their head, but no incident report was completed and the child's injury was not assessed.

The home, owned by Portsmouth City Council, provided short respite breaks for up to six children with physical or learning disabilities.

Ofsted's report also found that the previous manager "continued to fail to act" on inappropriate physical restraint and "serious safeguarding concerns" about staff members' practice.

Sarah Daly, the council's director of children's services and education said she took the concerns raised "incredibly seriously".

She said: "Since the inspection there has been a thorough review of policies and procedures and staff have been undergoing training. Maintenance has also been completed on the house.

"We have been in ongoing contact with Ofsted to implement an improvement plan to address all the issues raised in the report and have taken the opportunity to consider wider improvements and changes to culture to ensure the home provides care that is consistently focused on children.

She continued: "Ofsted revisited last week and are satisfied that we have made sufficient progress on the improvement plan to provide a safe home for children and the suspension notice has been lifted.

"We are looking to recruit an interim manager to support the re-opening of the home when we can. Hampshire Police have now concluded their investigation with no formal action being taken. We are now conducting our own internal investigation.

"We are very sorry for how the closure has impacted families and will continue to provide as much support as we can."