Emily Norton

Lincolnshire, North and North East Lincolnshire will be three of 75 local authority areas to receive a share of a £302 million pot to help families.

Each area will create a new Family Hub, as well as offering the most vulnerable families a dedicated key worker who will give hands-on parenting support through £700 million of funding.

The government announced today that its investment in the Start for Life programme will help thousands of families in a mission against inequality, and to improve health and opportunities for parents and young children.

New funding has been promised as part of the government’s Levelling Up access to childcare, mental health services, housing advice and employment across England.

Family Hubs are one-stop-shops for family services and respond to the Early Years Healthy Development Review to support children in their first 1,001 days.

They offer advice on matters such as child development and breastfeeding support.

Lincolnshire, North and North East Lincolnshire Council will discuss the new funding allocation and announce locations of the new hubs at a later date.

The Holiday Activities and Food programme will also be expanded ahead of the Easter holidays, backed by £220 million per year up to 2025 – to boost children’s health and mental wellbeing.

Young people who go through the programme are said to be 38% less likely to end up in prison and 32% less likely to be taken into care.

To help vulnerable young people leaving care make the transition to living independently, the government is investing over £172 million over three years to support them to stay near their foster families or children’s home.

Extra services and advice will be provided to help young people leaving care to fulfil their potential. Councils will also be supported with an extra £3.2 million in 2022-23 to prevent care leavers from sleeping rough.

Lincoln’s Member of Parliament, Karl McCartney. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Lincoln MP Karl McCartney said: “It is vital that families across England have access to the same high quality services to support them and their children’s development, wherever they live, and putting Lincoln first has always been a priority of mine as the Conservative member of parliament for the city.

“I welcome the new family hub for Lincolnshire from the Conservative Government, as part of their £302 million Start for Life investment – delivering our manifesto commitment and improving local access to childcare, mental health services, housing advice and employment, for families who need them most.

“By ensuring vulnerable families and young people leaving care can access key support services in one place, we are helping to end the postcode lottery that too many of them face as we build back fairer.”

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi commented: “If we are to level up outcomes for children facing the biggest challenges, this needs to start at home. Being part of a stable, loving family gives a child an early advantage, which is why we are investing so significantly in helping every family to access the vital services that help them and their children thrive.

“Family Hubs offer localised early help and intervention, from early years support to counselling or parenting classes, all of which can make a transformative difference in the lives of parents and carers who may not have a support network.

“We also have a responsibility to protect young people leaving care, to play our role fully as their corporate parent when their birth parents are unable. This funding will provide them with personal support and guidance as they embark on adult life and contribute fully to their own communities.”

York House care home in Billinghay near Lincoln, has been placed in special measures following a damning report by inspectors.

The home, run by LJ Care Homes Ltd, provides accommodation and care for elderly people, including those living with dementia, and was subjected to an unannounced inspection in January.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) had received concerns about the business’ infection, prevention and control measures, prompting inspectors to scrutinise the service.

York House has been rated inadequate overall and for being safe and well-led. It was previously rated good in 2018.

At the time of inspection, 16 people were living there.

Natalie Reed, CQC head of inspection for adult social care said: “When we inspected York House, we found a care home that wasn’t well-led. The management team failed to ensure systems and processes were in place for staff to provide quality, safe, person-centred care.

“Also, there wasn’t an adequate system for people to feedback on care their loved one was receiving to help the service make improvements.

“People were at risk of harm due to poor infection prevention and control practices. We found people with COVID-19 didn’t have notices on their doors and were not being regularly identified on handovers, so staff were not always aware who had COVID-19 which could have resulted in other people contracting it and becoming ill.

“PPE was not always worn, there was not a robust cleaning process in place and staff didn’t have the required knowledge to sufficiently control infection at the service.

“It was worrying that people weren’t always protected from the risk of abuse. Staff told us people had become distressed due to alleged abuse at the service, they hadn’t reported these concerns to the local authority, so they weren’t investigated.

“Some staff members told us they haven’t received any safeguarding training and didn’t feel comfortable raising safeguarding concerns to the management team due to potential repercussions, which is completely unacceptable.

“The leaders of York House now understand where further improvements must be made and have started to address our concerns. We will continue to monitor the service and if improvements are not made, we will not hesitate to take further action.”

Inspectors found the following:

• The provider failed to ensure that effective governance systems were in place
• Systems to ensure the safety and quality of the service were not effective
• People were not safeguarded from the risks of abuse
• Risks to people ‘s health, safety and welfare were not always identified or managed effectively, and care plans were not always in place
• Their approach to visiting did not always align with government guidance
• Medicines were not always managed and stored safely, and people did not always receive medicines as prescribed
• There were insufficient measures in place to reduce the risk of infection spreading
• We did not find evidence of lessons being learnt following accidents and incidents
• Staffing levels at the service put people’s safety at risk

However:

• Despite the above concerns, people and relatives were overall positive about the safety of the service. People told us they knew to speak to staff if they needed to raise concerns
• Staff members deployed were consistent and the service only used permanent staff
• The service worked closely with the local GP surgery
• The report will be published on the CQC website on Wednesday 30 March

A spokesperson for the care home says it has been under new management since October 2021 and has made ‘amazing progress’.

A statement from York House said: “We feel the inspection was carried out from complaints it [CQC] had received and not a factual report on York House. We tried to appeal this with CQC however, never received feedback or a final report from CQC.

“We feel let down by them. The paperwork is obviously more important than the wellbeing of the present staff and residents as none of these were spoken to for their opinions.

“Staff and residents have seen the improvements made since the home has been under new management and it is certainly going forward and upwards. We have an amazing team, in fact it is more like a family run home.”

The spokesperson said relatives often received feedback during the pandemic, although conversations were not always documented, and during this time suggestion boxes had been removed due to infection control.

The care home claims it isolated all residents during a COVID-19 outbreak, with ‘barrier nursing’ methods used, and it has accused the the CQC of putting paperwork before residents’ wellbeing.

York House claims all abuse allegations are ‘false’.