Children's home owned by famous Altrincham star told to shut down

AP Care Homes Limited in Altrincham was established by Real Housewives of Cheshire star, Ampika Pickston, in July 2022.

The home was registered with Ofsted the following summer to provide care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

However, the home was rated "inadequate" across three key areas in an Ofsted inspection in November last year, during which inspectors found "serious failures".

This includes concerns around children vaping, children who went missing from the home, self-harming behaviours, a lack of staff training around the use of restraints, an instance where a child didn't eat for two days and where the director "blurred" boundaries in inviting a child to her home.

While the registration of the home has been "suspended" with "immediate effect", AP Care Homes said it is still open and is "legally" challenging the Ofsted report, which it described as "factually incorrect".

But Ofsted inspectors Catherine Fargin and Emma Thornton said they found "serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded" at the premises.

They continued: "The care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress."

Up to three children had lived at the home since it was registered but there were just two children present when the inspection was carried out.

Ms Fargin and Ms Thornton wrote a damning report about the failings of the home, criticising "serious shortfalls" in safeguarding measures as well as its insufficient leadership and management arrangements.

The education watchdog said leaders "fail to carefully consider children's needs before they move into the home" and, in turn, fail to identify if the staff have the adequate skills and experience to meet those needs.

The report continued: "There is a lack of consideration of how leaders and staff will meet the needs of children who are placed far away from home."

The youngsters received their education through a tutor who visits the home which the report said is supported by staff.

However, records at the home fall short of monitoring the children's progress which Ofsted said is a "missed opportunity".

When it came to the health of the children, inspectors said their needs were not understood or met.

In one case, one child was routinely missing meals and it was reported a child didn't eat for at least two days.

When the incident was reported, Ofsted found leaders and staff "failed" to seek professional advice promptly and, when they did, "did not act on the advice given".

Although inspectors found staff generally have "positive relationships" with the youngsters, they said children's complaints or serious concerns go unheard.

"Failing to listen to the children does not promote the development of positive and trusting relationships", they added.

But safeguarding practices was one particular major downfall highlighted in the report as the inspectors found an investigation had been carried out after the "director of the company took a child to their home".

Ms Fargin and Ms Thornton said the investigation revealed "professional boundaries had been blurred by the director" and, despite this, it was reported the director then invited children to her home "again", three weeks later.

Although the children did not visit Ms Pickston's home, the education watchdog ruled that this was evidence safeguarding practices would not always be adhered to.

Other risks to children also went unidentified by the team, with risk management strategies deemed "poor".

Despite concerns about "self-injurious behaviour", staff did not assess the safety of the child's bedroom for any ligature points and did not receive training in managing this nor supporting children's mental health.

Training records further reveal staff had not received training in restraint techniques that were used on the children, as well as training in the specific needs of the children in their care including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and global developmental delay.

In addition, the report reveals there were incidents where children went missing from the home and where one child claimed they had been sexually assaulted which was inadequately reported.

Another child was also found to be at risk of using e-cigarettes yet staff did not remove the items when found during bedroom checks.

One child also told staff they had accessed a potentially unsafe website, which included communicating with strangers via video, which was insufficiently addressed.

The inspectors said staff "lack professional curiosity".

Meanwhile, bullying in the home was deemed common but "poorly managed" with one child being removed entirely due to threats to harm another.

The threats were considered so serious that the child was moved to a hotel, yet the report adds: "It is not clear what has changed to now make the home safe."

The Altrincham TV star was found to be overseeing the home as, despite her lack of skills and experience, it had no registered manager in post.

The absence of effective leadership, the report continued, "seriously compromises the welfare and safety of children".

Other shortfalls in staff practice were also not responded to addresses, including one instance where an employee fell asleep "twice" when they were caring for the children, which the children documented with video recordings.

Ofsted issued a notice suspending the registration of the home, which prompted its closure in December.

A spokesperson for AP Care Homes Limited said: "We are open and have children in placement and the report is factually incorrect and Ofsted are being legally challenged by AP Care Homes."

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