Inverness care home has been blasted by inspectors for 'weak' response to Covid-19
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A snap inspection of Southside Care Home in Inverness found staff did not have the simplest precautions in place to prevent coronavirus infection.
NHS Highland has said it will not place patients at the privately-owned home until improvements are made.
Inspectors made an unannounced visit on August 14 and owners have now been given an ultimatum to clean up their act by tomorrow or face further action.
This could ultimately include court action to remove Southside Nursing Home Limited as operators.
Cluttered areas, dirty toilet seats, unclean hoist equipment, chipped walls and a lack of staff time to carry out cleaning duties were all witnessed in the home on Southside Road, which has 27 residents.
The home was classified as “weak” by inspectors, who reviewed standards to reduce the risk of the spread of Covid, and support residents and their families.
Previous recommendations that should have been met had also not been carried out by the home’s owners.
The report said: “We found that generally, toilets and raised toilet seats were stained and dirty.
“There had been no recent deep clean of the kitchen, and the enhanced cleaning of communal living areas had only just begun.
“A cleaning schedule to direct staff was yet to be put in place. We would expect this to have been prioritised since the Covid-19 pandemic began
“We saw that there were holes in walls, chipped paintwork and broken radiator covers which made cleaning difficult and increased the potential for infection.
“There was no system to show that baths, showers or shared equipment, for example hoists, were being cleaned between use.”
One staff member confessed to inspectors there were not enough cleaning hours to complete the tasks required.
While inspectors found the home had a supply of PPE, they added: “We found that these were not always being used.
“We found wet toilet paper and a used tissue discarded outwith provided bins, which increased the risk of cross contamination and potential for infection.
“PPE bins were too small to enable staff to freely drop their used PPE and were not foot-pedal operated as recommended. This meant that staff were unnecessarily touching used PPE, which increased the risk of cross contamination, infection and harm.”
They also said hand sanitiser was not easily accessible.
A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate said: “A recent inspection of Southside Care Home found the quality of care experienced by residents to be weak.
“The report of that inspection sets out the areas that must improve so that people experience the care they have a right to expect.
“If we are not satisfied that improvements are being made, we will not hesitate to take further action.”
NHS Highland chief officer David Park said: “We have suspended admissions to Southside Care Home but will monitor progress and offer support where appropriate.”
The home’s owner, Chris Allan, said staff were working to address the issues identified.
He added: “The unannounced inspection was specifically in relation to our management and infection control of the Covid-19 situation and although the grade of weak was awarded for infection control practices, we have had no infectious outbreaks and no Covid within the home.
“I would also point to the ‘health and wellbeing’ and the ‘staffing arrangements’ evaluation criteria which were both considered adequate, and the inspector’s very positive comments around the compassion, dignity and respect that our staff treated our residents with and the genuine, loving and positive interactions that are had.
“We are confident that we have addressed the issues identified around infection control practices and are confident that the improvements made are sustainable.”
