Immediate action notice. An Immediate Action Notice (IAN) was issued to the registered provider on the day of inspection on observation of an immediate risk identified under regulation 23 Safe Sleep. It is acknowledged that an appropriate response was submitted to the office of the Early Years Inspectorate on the 20 February 2025.
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
Infection Control: The spaces between the cots and stackable beds in the Lady Bird 2 sleep room were not maintained at 50 cm apart as is recommended infection control practice. Safe Sleep: The following non-compliances were identified regarding safe sleep practices and policy implementation. There was no constant adult presence and supervision in the room as recommended by the Early Years Inspectorate “Guidance for the Early Learning and Care sector on sleep”. At 13:30 hours the inspector observed the following sleeping arrangements. 1.In the Lady Bird Room 2 sleep room there were three children asleep in the three cots and one child, aged 2 years asleep on a stackable bed between two cots. 2. In the Lady Bird 2 classroom the inspector found two children aged between 15 months and 2 years asleep on stackable beds and two children, aged 1 year and 1 year and 1 month asleep in bouncers. Two children were sleeping in bouncers which are not recommended as suitable safe sleeping equipment, by safe sleep best practice research for children to sleep or nap in. Action submitted by the Registered Provider The following corrective and preventive actions have been submitted by the registered provider
Provider's corrective action:
s Infection Control: • The Crèche has 2 sleep rooms with 3 cots in each one that are evenly spaced out over 50cm to comply with Regulation 23. • Both Management and Staff ensure that adequate space is maintained between the stackable beds when laid out for sleep times, and ensure Stackable beds are not put in the same sleep room as the cots. Safe Sleep: • the stackable beds have been removed from the sleep room. • The stackable beds are now stored under the stairs and accessible when needed for sleep. Stackable beds are used by children over 2 years old and are used in ladybird room 2, which allows the beds to be spaced out, so the children have adequate space to sleep. This change was completed 20th February 2025 as. • Staff members are now present in the room when children are asleep on stackable beds, to prevent safety risks • Cots are now in use for all children under 2 years old and stackable beds are in use for children 2 years and older. • On 20th February 2025, as part of the immediate action notice, a meeting was held with the parents of the 2 children who were ‘’sleeping in bouncers’’. A sleep plan was drawn up with the parent, early years educator and the manager- to try to and transition the children into a cot in the crèche. • Bouncers have been removed from the lady bird room and are no longer in use for sleep or any other use- during the day- tummy time and floor play are promoted- instead of the use of bouncers. • The parents information pack- updated February 2025, now states that children attending the crèche will need to sleep in a cot, floor bed or stackable bed- no other sleeping equipment can be used. • All staff members have been trained in the new safe sleep guidelines and are now fully aware of how important safe sleep practices are which includes adequate space in between cots and stackable beds of at least 50cm. • Stackable beds are no longer stored in the sleep room as the sleep room needs to be accessible to the children using the cots. There is a designated area for the storage of the stackable beds, and after use, are put back to this designated area under the stairs
Immediate action notice. An Immediate Action Notice, in relation to a risk identified under regulation 23 Safe Sleep, was issued on site on the day of inspection. On the 22 April 2024, a regulatory compliance meeting took place to address outstanding non-compliances which had not been addressed in the Corrective Action and Preventive Action (CAPA) response.
Regulation 9 — Management and recruitment
(2)(a)(b) A second reference from a previous employer or reputable source, in the case of a person who has no previous employer, was not available for one staff member. No validated references were available for one staff member employed in the service. Nine of the thirteen references on file for employees did not have a validation of reference attached or documented. (d) Police vetting for one staff member who had lived in a state other than Ireland for a period of longer than six months was not on file. (3) On review of staff files the inspector observed that employee references and police vetting as specified in paragraph (2) were not completed prior to staff members commencing employment in the service
Provider's corrective action:
The following corrective and preventive actions were submitted by the designated person in charge. Corrective and Preventive Action The designated person in charge responded stating that police vetting, and reference checks were ongoing. All staff files were being checked and missing references, police vetting, and necessary documents are being sourced
Regulation 10 — Policies, procedures etc. of pre-school service
1.The following policies were not available in the service: Fire Safety Policy, Policy on Outdoor Play, Policy on the use of the Internet and Photographic and Recording Devices, Recruitment Policy, Settling In Policy, Staff Training Policy, and Supervision Policy. 2. The inspector observed from recorded dates on the policies present that the policies had not been revised since the 11 January 2021. This was not in line with the regulatory requirement of an annual revision of service policy. 3. While an Infection Control Policy was available it did not describe how perishable food items were safely managed in the service. 4. While it is acknowledged that a staff check list for the sleep rooms, was displayed on the sleep room wall, there was no safe sleep policy documented and available for inspection. 5. The service’s policy on outings did not detail if the service consulted with its insurance company to confirm insurance cover for outings. 6. While it is acknowledged that a drop off and collection policy was available, this was devised as part of the procedures required to be put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and was no longer appropriate. A policy on authorisation to collect children was not available. 7. While a healthy eating policy was available, it was not relevant to the food and nutrition provision required for a full day care service. The policy did not outline the measures taken by the service to ensure that sufficient, suitable and nutritious food and drink are available to each child depending on their age, development, needs, specific dietary or religious requirements. The policy did not detail that the main meal must include appropriate servings of protein, starch, dairy, vegetables and iron. 8. The policy on staff absences did not contain the following information: It did not state how the adult: child ratio is maintained and it did not outline how the staff roster detailed staff absences and substitutions. 9. While it is acknowledged that a policy on accidents and incident was available it did not include details of and how notifiable incidents that occur in the service are informed to the Early Years Inspectorate
Provider's corrective action:
The designated person in charge has responded with the following actions. Corrective and Preventive Action Following the regulatory compliance meeting all identified non compliance was addressed through the revision of policies
Regulation 19 — Health, welfare and development of child
1.There was no adult seating available in either Ladybird rooms for staff to sit on, while nurturing or comforting the younger children. Staff were observed to hold and cuddle children if distressed on the floor mats. 2. On observation of the play environment in the Buzzy Bees room, there had been minimal improvement in the creation of a stimulating inviting play environment since the last inspections in 2019 and 2020. It is acknowledged that the service had engaged with an early years specialist and quality initiative to develop quality improvement in the service, however, this is no longer active and was not reflected in the quality of the practice and environment observed in the Buzzy Bees room on the day of inspection. • The play activities in the room were adult led. One child at 11:37 hours expressed an interest in going outside into the directly adjacent outdoor play area and was told no because it was raining. The inspector observed that the rain had stopped falling. Children were told that they would go out later when the rain stopped. • Children were observed sitting at tables transferring rice, they were then instructed to go and sit on the floor by the radiator while the two staff members cleaned the rice off the tables and floor, before lunch. • After the children ate lunch in the Buzzy Bees room, the tables were cleaned, and children were directed to sit at one or another table. The children did not have a choice of where to sit. A staff member emptied a box of connective magnets on one table and a box of small world sensory toys on the other, and the children were instructed to play with them. 3. The main meal offered on the day of inspection was not in line with what was offered on any of the three-week menu plans displayed in the service. The meal contained fusilli pasta with a tomato sauce, no protein was included. 4. When the inspector asked the staff in the Buzzy Bees room about rest or sleep provision for the children aged 2 to 3 years, the inspector was informed that there were no stackable sleep beds available and that most of the children did not sleep. 5. There was no rest area available for the children to rest and relax on or in, in the Buzzy Bees room. A thin circular mat with a picture of a lion on it, was on the floor. The inspector observed a child to lie on it, momentarily, but the child got up quickly again, as the mat was thin and did not provide a comfortable rest surface
Provider's corrective action:
The designated person in charge had submitted the following response. Corrective and Preventive Action 1. No corrective action has been submitted and the response states that they are looking into appropriate seating to purchase. 2. Staff are going to training to encourage child’s play. 3. Menu will be followed as posted; new chief hired. 4. New stackable beds bought and more coming. 5.Couches bought
Regulation 23 — Safeguarding health, safety and welfare of child
General Safety: 1. The safety catch in the dormer window of the Caterpillar room was broken and the inspector observed that it was held together by blue twine. Infection Control: The inspector observed the following non- compliances in relation to infection control. 1. In the upstairs children’s toilet there was no paper towels or liquid hand soap avail for children to carry out effective handwashing. It is acknowledged that the designated person in charge stated at the feedback meeting that the toilets were being blocked by children placing paper towelling in them and that the paper towelling had been moved to the classroom. This was not near the handwash basins or toilet facilities and did not contribute to an appropriate handwashing facility for the children. 2.There were two worn exposed circular patterns on the two-child sized circular tables in the Butterfly room and the legs of the tables were rusty, posing a potential risk of cross infection or injury to a child. 3.The child sized couch in the Caterpillar room was worn and torn on the bottom left corner, exposing the foam insides, which posed a potential risk of cross infection as the couch could not be cleaned or disinfected sufficiently. 4. The nappy changing mat in the nappy changing area used by both Ladybird rooms was torn, with the inner foam exposed, posing a potential risk of cross infection as the mat could not be sufficiently disinfected. The nappy changing mat in the nappy changing area adjacent to the Buzzy Bees classroom was also torn, with foam exposed. 5. The inspector observed that there was no paper towel available next to the handwash basin, in the nappy changing area used by the staff in the Ladybird rooms. The staff had to use a roll of paper towelling that was located on the radiator cover in the hallway outside the nappy changing area. This was not conducive to an appropriate handwashing facility for staff to carry out effective handwashing procedures. 6. The nappy bin in the nappy changing room between the Ladybird rooms was not pedal operated and staff were observed to touch the cover, while placing a nappy inside, posing a potential risk of infection. 7. At 11:50 hours in the Ladybird rooms, the inspector observed that the staff were encouraging the children to have a drink of water from beakers provided. The beakers had illegible writing on them where the names of children had been written over time. This posed a risk of beakers being mixed up and a potential risk of cross infection if a child drank from an already used beaker. Safe Sleep: While the inspector observed that the staff in both Ladybird rooms, placed children safely to sleep and carried out checks of the sleep rooms environments and children in line with safe sleep guidelines, the temperature of both sleep rooms was not maintained between 16-20 ℃. At 12:42, in sleep room 2, the temperature was recorded by the inspector as 22.4℃, the thermometer in the room was recording the temperature as 21.4℃. The inspector recorded the temperature in sleep room 1 as 22℃, while the room thermometer recorded the temperature as 21.2℃. The inspector observed that the staff had placed children to sleep in the vests and that they had left the door of sleep room 1 ajar to increase the circulation of air. The inspector observed that the air ventilation system was not working and in discussion with staff and on review of sleep records, the staff confirmed that the ventilation system, which purpose was to maintain the sleep rooms between 16- 20℃ had been broken since the start of the month, and that the designated person in charge had been informed at that time. On review of records maintained the temperature of the sleep rooms since 01 February had recordings ranging from the lowest 18.7 ℃ to 22.7℃. An Immediate Action Notice was issued onsite at the time of the feedback meeting with the designated person in charge and the registered provider present. Action submitted by the Registered Provider The following response was submitted by the designated person in charge
Provider's corrective action:
Window catch fixed- photo attached. Moved blue roll dispenser and new soap dispenser - photo attached. New tables are being bought. New couches are being bought. Changing Mats - replaced - photo attached. Soap and blue roll placed in the Ladybird room for staff. Looking for new non-touch nappy bins for Buzzy Bees and Ladybird rooms. New beakers are being bought and assigned to each child with their own name with washable stickers. Safe Sleep: The designated person in charge responded to the Immediate Action Notice on the 21 February demonstrating that the ventilation system had been repaired and was working efficiently
Regulation 25 — First aid
(1) While it is acknowledged that there was one staff member present on the day of inspection who had current first aid responder (FAR) training, due to expire on the 18 May 2024, the staff roster presented indicated that this staff member was only rostered to work from 08:00 to 17:00 hours. Therefore, there was no staff member trained in FAR, onsite between the hour of 17:00 to 18:00 hours. It is acknowledged that there were six staff members employed in the service with basic first aid training due to expire on the 15 May 2025
Provider's corrective action:
The initial response made in CAPA was inadequate. Following the regulatory compliance meeting on the 24 April 2024, the registered provider submitted further evidence on the 30 April, to demonstrate the corrective action had been carried out with regards to the non-compliance identified under regulation 25. First Aid Responder Training had been booked for the 16, 23 and 30 May
Regulation 26 — Fire safety measures
(b) While a record of the annual maintenance check for the fire alarm system was recorded as having taken place on the 10 January 2024, the last maintenance checks for the fire-fighting equipment was recorded as having taken place on the 28 August 2020 which is not in line with fire safety guidelines for preschools, which recommends an annual service of firefighting equipment
Provider's corrective action:
Following the regulatory compliance meeting on the 24 April 2024, the registered provider submitted evidence to demonstrate that new firefighting equipment had been purchased for the service. Summary Comment The actions submitted are appropriate to address the non-compliances. The implementation of these actions will be reviewed on next inspection