Children put at risk by charity failings

A “CATALOGUE of serious failings” at a charity exposed vulnerable children to harm, a Government watchdog has found.

A Charity Commission investigation into the The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) found serious issues with the organisation’s Pear Centre children’s home in Coventry which put children with complex needs at risk of harm and distress.

An investigation into the charity was launched in March 2018 after concerns were raised about the children’s home and education regulator Ofsted issued a notice of intention to unregister the facility.

The reviews found a “culture that was too insular and dismissive of external criticism from Ofsted, CQC and parents” as well as poor staff training and recruitment and a “disproportionately high number of basic medication errors”.

On one occasion, a child at the centre suffered an increase in epileptic fits after they attended a medical appointment where their medication was altered.

The child’s parent who usually attended appointments could have told a doctor that this new medication was known to make the child’s epilepsy worse, but they were not told that the appointment had been scheduled.

The chief executive officer of RNIB has apologised for the findings, which he says “represents the low point in our 152-year history”. Matt Stringer said: “It is clear that we seriously let down children and their families, staff, volunteers, supporters and blind and partially-sighted people who make up the RNIB community. We are sorry to every one of them.”