A council-run care home in Ayrshire with no en-suite toilet facilities in its single occupancy bedrooms has been given a year to make improvements.
South Lodge Care Home, in Ayr’s Racecourse Road, has been urged by the Care Inspectorate to provide en-suite toilet facilities to help promote the “privacy, dignity and independence” of its residents.
The care home has no en-suite facilities within its single occupancy bedrooms, only wash hand basins.
The care home is registered to provide care for 39 older people, of which a maximum of five places can be used for respite care/people 45 years and over.
The service provider is South Ayrshire Council.
But the home was graded ‘adequate’ across six key indicators following a recent inspection by the Care Inspectorate.
Twenty six people were living there at the time of the inspection.
Communal toilet and bathing/shower facilities are available on each floor.
But the scrutiny body says that en-suite toilet facilities are needed.
An extract from the Care Inspectorate report said: “The issue of shared facilities needs more discussion for the longer term and in particular on the middle floor.
“Overall, people were able to minimise risk of cross infection from using shared facilities and people living here were able to maintain dignity and privacy in their use.
"However, at times this may be less than ideal and better privacy and dignity could be maintained if some en-suites were created.”
Staff from the Care Inspectorate spoke to four people who live at South Lodge and were told they were all “satisfied” with the care and support and commented “positively” on the information provided, “friendly staff” and “supportive manager.”
But a recognition of health needs of residents “needed to improve,” according to the report.
The report states: “Overall, recognition of health needs needed to improve. For example, the medical history could include dates of COVID-19 infection so that any effects of long COVID-19 can be determined.
“Long term medical conditions needed to be recorded more clearly and information provided to ensure staff know what these conditions are and how to monitor for changes- as well as who to contact.”
The Care Inspectorate said they observed “positive practice” in terms of PPE use, but also want the home to improve its infection control practices.
The report added: “The layout of the laundry including the flow of clean and dirty laundry needed review to minimise the risk of cross contamination and reduce potential harm.
“Policies and procedures needed review to ensure staff followed appropriate thermal washing temperatures. The clinical waste bins externally needed securing and the manager agreed to contact the contractor to arrange this.”
Among the areas for improvement, the Care Inspectorate concluded: “To promote privacy, dignity and independence for service users, the service provider should develop a plan detailing how the provision of en-suite toilet and bathing/shower facilities will be achieved within a one-year timescale.
“This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards.”
Billy McClean, Head of Community Health and Care Services said: “The South Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership is committed to providing safe, effective and quality services to our communities.
“During the recent inspection of South Lodge Care Home a number of key strengths were identified including;
• People were supported by a care team who interacted with kindness;
• People benefited from the friendly atmosphere and there was access to pleasant patio and garden areas;
• Visiting was taking place in keeping with Scottish Government Open with Care guidance;
• Good practice in staff wearing PPE and carrying out hand hygiene. Staff were also aware of social distancing measures;
• The care home was clean;
• People spoke positively about how they were supported.”
Mr McClean continued: “There were some areas for improvement identified which need some attention including a recommendation to provide en-suite toilet facilities for single occupancy rooms.
“While not a required action as part of the inspection, this recommendation is being reviewed by the team.
“As noted in the Health and Social Care Standards, buildings which were not purpose built cannot always accommodate en-suites in all rooms.
“Our staff work hard to ensure that all the principles of the health and social care standards are adhered to and people living within South Lodge have their privacy and dignity maintained at all times.”
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