A residential family centre in Burnley that 'is not delivering good care and help' received a 'requires improvement' rating from Ofsted. 

Kaleidoscope Assessment Services, at Finsley House on Finsley Street, Briercliffe, was inspected on May 8.

On June 13, an Ofsted report was published that graded the centre as 'requires improvement'.

The centre is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to three families at any one time, including families at the direction of the court or the local authority for the purposes of assessment.

Two families were living in the centre at the time of the inspection.

Issues with the centre included the lack of a ligature cutter on site that was 'not in line with the provider’s policy and places families at potential risk should staff need to take emergency action'.

The report said: "When families move into the centre, initial meetings and consultations do not always evidence their views to inform their individual placement plans and overall experiences.

"In addition, for one parent, the centre’s pre-admission records and risk assessment contained an inaccurate health diagnosis. Consequently, staff have misunderstood the parent’s specific health needs.

"One flat had not been cleaned since a family moved out. Some communal areas of the centre had not been well maintained and the garden area contained some rubbish and broken paving stones. The staff team acted to address these issues during the inspection."

There were some good aspects within the report, including that families said that they 'feel supported by staff'.

The report continued: "They have positive relationships and trusted adults who they can talk to about how they are feeling.

"Placing authorities have provided positive feedback about the support families receive when they move into the centre.

"There is also a more proactive approach in place for obtaining letters of instruction and families’ placing authority documentation to support the assessment process."