Life 'unbearable' for parents after baby killed in nursery
The distraught parents of baby Genevieve who died at nine months old have called for stronger safeguarding measures.
The parents of a 9-month-old baby who died at a nursery in Stockport have called for tougher safeguarding regulations. Katie Wheeler and John Meehan want Ofsted – the body which inspects education provides in England - to carry out more frequent inspections and have the power to check CCTV footage.
In a tear-choked interview with the BBC, Ms Wheeler describes how she felt “absolutely desperate” when she arrived at the hospital. “You’re holding her and just willing it to be different,” Ms Wheeler said. When the police arrived on May 9, 2022, the manager of the baby room, Kate Roughly, told them that she was “constantly checking on [the babies]” to make sure they were breathing. Last year Ms Roughly was found guilty of manslaughter and handed a 14-year prison sentence.
DCI Charlotte Whalley from the Great Manchester Police described how Ms Roughly “dumped” Genevieve face down on a beanie bag and left her unattended for 90 minutes causing her to asphyxiate. CCTV footage showed Genevieve struggling to breathe and attempting to raise her head before becoming unresponsive after an hour.
“I couldn’t understand how a baby of this age could go to sleep for a nap in the afternoon and the not wake up,” Ms Wheeler said. “I completely lost who I was, that night in the hospital, holding her.”
The latest figures show that in the year 2023-34, the number of serious incidents reported to Ofsted were 40% higher than the previous five years, Freedom of Information requests showed. A BBC investigation, which spoke to 20 former and current nursey workers, revealed substandard care across the country. Many blamed short staffing for putting children at risk and said that Ofsted inspectors didn’t always spot this.
A former Ofsted inspector, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC that inspections were “tick-box exercises”.
"As long as they can say: 'We've asked all these questions, what more can we do?' But you do that once every so many years - how is that safeguarding the children?" she said.
The head of early years and social care, Yvette Stanley, called misleading inspections an “appalling practice”.
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When police reviewed CCTV footage as part of their investigation, they found a second member of staff had been threatening and pushing babies younger than one. Rebecca Gregory was convicted of wilful neglect and ill-treatment of children last September and sentenced to three years in jail.
It is not part of a routine Ofsted inspection to check CCTV footage and there is no government guidance on whether this is necessary.
The Department of Education said it was introducing stronger safeguarding measures in September, with a spokesperson adding that the department “will closely monitor whether further changes to safeguarding requirements are needed.”
