A Dundee nursery has been criticised by inspectors over issues with hygiene and inconsistencies within management and staff experience.
Happitots nursery in Clements Park was visited unannounced on August 31 by inspectors.
It provides childcare and early education for children from newborns to the age of five.
The Lochee centre is operated by Oranges and Lemons, who say a new nursery manager with a “wealth of experience” has just been appointed to address the concerns raised.
The report rated the quality of management and leadership as “weak” but noted there is “great potential and enthusiasm” within the wider team.
The quality of care and support, quality of environment and quality of staffing was deemed “adequate”.
Hygiene issues
The care inspectorate report found a number of issues with hygiene at the nursery, including problems with the two-year-old’s bathroom, appropriate hand washing and storage of children’s blankets.
It was highlighted that the two-year-old’s bathroom was in a “disorganised condition” and “did not look clean”.
Inspectors wrote: “Staff told us that when they were short staffed it was difficult to complete all cleaning tasks.
“Appropriate hand washing was mostly seen throughout the observed session, but this was not consistent.
“Some pre-school children washed their hands too early before lunch and then returned to play and children were not always washing hands when returning indoors.
“There is no child-sized hand wash sink in the 0-2’s room so wipes were used to clean the children’s hands.
“Further development of this room should provide a suitable sink to help children develop good hand washing habits from a young age.
“One child’s sleep blanket that was brought from home was not stored hygienically. It was on the floor in a grubby condition and then used by the child at bedtime.”
Lack of improvement from last inspection
The report said inspectors were concerned about the lack of progress and improvement from the last visit which took place on August 31 last year.
Inspectors wrote in the report: “There is great potential and enthusiasm within the team but a need for more experience and knowledge to lead the improvement required within the service.
“There had been a lack of continuity in the management team, with a succession of three managers in a short space of time.
“There had been limited progress made on the requirement and recommendations made at the last inspection
“There was still no greater consistency to staffing, with a lack of experience, knowledge and skill compromising outcomes for children.”
“The service needs skilful leaders and a period of staffing and management stability to drive forward the improvement agenda and enhance experiences and outcomes for children.”
Parents’ positive feedback
However, the Care Inspectorate report did highlight some positives.
Inspectors also spoke to parents to gauge their feedback on their experience with the nursery.
One parent said: “There has been a lot of changes over the last few months with staffing and the nursery has been good at keeping me up to date.
“My daughter loves going to nursery now and I can see a difference in her in terms of being more confident and sociable.”
Another wrote: “My child has came a long way since starting nursery and I can only thank the staff at Happitots for that.
“All children seem to be happy and busy when dropping/collecting my child.”
Some parents mentioned that they would like to get more feedback of their children’s progress while at nursery.
One parent said: “There have been a number of recent changes regarding staff within the nursery and particularly within my child’s room and I feel handover regarding my child has been negatively affected due to this.
“I get a brief update regarding how he has been that day and his food intake, however cannot remember the last time I had a formal update regarding his learning and development, activities he is doing within nursery and how this is against his early years development/indicators.
“I feel communication could be improved along with the need for some stability within staffing, however I fully understand this is challenging for any business but it feels like there has been a lot of staffing changes between managers and room staff since my child started.”
New management at nursery
A spokesperson for Oranges and Lemons said: “While the Care Inspectorate’s report highlighted a number of positive findings, including happy and settled children, a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere and a committed and enthusiastic nursery team, we recognise there are improvements to be made throughout the nursery to ensure we meet our high-quality standards.
“We recently appointed a nursery manager with a wealth of experience who will work closely with the staff to implement a comprehensive action plan and address each matter raised.”