Unannounced inspection of Skye care home with Covid-19 outbreak raises 'serious concerns'; NHS Highland steps in to assist Home Farm care home's owner HC-One at the Portree site following the visit by the Care Inspectorate
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SERIOUS concerns have been raised about the Skye care home at the centre of a major outbreak of Covid-19 that has claimed the lives of seven people.
At the moment 30 out of 34 residents have tested positive for Covid-19 and 29 of the staff.
Now an unannounced inspection by the Care Inspectorate of the HC-One owned Home Farm has “raised serious concerns” prompting NHS Highland to step-in to try and deal with the situation.
The health board agreed to provide enhanced assistance by deploying additional NHS resources.
That will include social care management, nursing leadership and direct care with immediate effect to improve the quality of care for the residents.
However, this is the latest Care Inspectorate investigation that found failings at the home after an investigation in late January found a number of shortcomings including in infection control policies.
It stated: “People experiencing care should have confidence in the organisation and infection control policies and procedures are adhered to ensuring people are not at risk.
“In order to achieve this the provider must ensure the environment is hygienically cleaned to an acceptable standard and all areas are malodour free.
“Cleaning protocols in all areas of the premises must be adhered to and regular deep cleaning is carried out.”
Though some improvement has been made including having “cleaning schedules in place which included deep cleaning” it was observed that “the sample we looked at were poorly completed and the services own quality assurance system was not being followed.”
This requirement was considered not to have been met.
Now, HC-One has welcomed NHS Highland’s assistance and its response to the Care Inspectorate’s concerns with managing director John Kirk saying: “The situation at Home Farm has evolved rapidly over the past week and we have been incredibly grateful for the support that NHS Highland has provided to us during this time to ensure continuity of care to all residents at Home Farm.
“As we take further action to respond to the situation at Home Farm, we look forward to a deeper partnership with NHS Highland as the priority for everyone is making sure residents receive the very best care.”
NHS Highland chief executive Paul Hawkins said: “NHS Highland has responded to the request from the Care Inspectorate and from HC-One to provide support in improving and sustaining the appropriate quality of care for residents and the necessary assistance in this difficult situation.
“We will work closely with the Care Inspectorate and HC-One Senior management.”
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