Hawick care home told to make urgent improvements

The Care Inspectorate has served a formal improvement notice on St Andrew’s Care Home in Hawick following an inspection which raised serious concerns.

The notice lists eight areas which require urgent improvement by the end of November.

These include reviewing staffing levels to ensure sufficient staff are working in the service to meet the care needs of residents.

In a statement, Jason Sykes, managing director of owner Park Homes, said: “The most recent inspection took place under a management team that has now been replaced.

“We acknowledge that the service was failing in certain areas that have been highlighted in the report and we are delighted that the new management team has quickly embraced change.

“We regret that the service levels at the home fell below our standards and look forward to the improvements that we are planning to make.”

Inspectors said the service must also ensure that medication procedures and practice promotes the health and wellbeing of service users.

Inspectors also said the care home must make proper provision for the health, welfare and safety of service users and ensure that all service users are assessed at appropriate intervals for their risk of undernourishment and their need for support with eating and drinking.

Further improvements needed include ensuring that service users’ needs relating to skin care and tissue viability are met and that factors that contribute towards the risk of skin damage are recognised and steps taken to minimise that risk.

The care home must also make proper provision for the health, welfare and safety of service users and put into practice appropriate procedures for the prevention and control of infection. In order to do so, they must undertake a deep cleaning throughout the home, ensuring that surfaces and items of equipment are properly cleaned to minimise the risk of spreading infection.

The care home must also review the system currently in place for reporting notifiable incidents to the Care Inspectorate and ensure that all staff are aware of what type of incidents should be reported to the Care Inspectorate, the method by which notifiable events are to be reported and the time by which notifiable events must be reported.

Management at the care home must also ensure that persons employed in the care service receive training appropriate to the work they are to perform.

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “Our inspection raised serious concerns and we will report on that inspection in full in due course. The Improvement Notice we have issued today clearly lays out the improvements we must see so that the care provided to residents improves quickly.

“We will visit this care home again soon to check on progress and if we are not satisfied that the matters raised are being addressed urgently we will not hesitate to take further action.

“Everyone in Scotland has the right to safe, compassionate care which meets their needs and respects their rights.

“Anyone with a concern can contact our helpline on 0345 600 9527.”