A Callander care home about to be stripped of its registration has been handed a stay of execution.
Inspectors who visited Ashwood House during the summer said they had “significant concerns” over residents’ safety and wellbeing, over staff levels, staff training and cleanliness of the home.
Home owners Mauricare were given some time to make improvements but warned it faced being removed from the register.
Earlier this month the Care Inspectorate said some improvement had been made - but not enough - and intimated its intention to implement the threat. The move, however, is now on hold after the owners exercised their right to appeal.
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “We understand that the provider has lodged an appeal at the sheriff court, but we have not yet received formal intimation of that.
“We continue to liaise closely with the provider and the local health and social care partnership to ensure residents receive appropriate care.”
While there had been no cases of Covid at Ashwood House, inspectors had said they weren’t confident residents would be properly looked after if there was an outbreak due to the levels of staffing and lack of training.
The home, which currently has 18 residents, was deemed “weak” across the board following an inspection in July. Requirements set out by inspectors last year were also still unmet.
If removed from the register, the home could potentially close or another operator could take over.
The inspectors did acknowledge that staff were seen to support people “with compassion and kindness” and spoke about them warmly, however identified a catalogue of other concerns.
In a letter of September 3, a few days after a follow-up visit, the inspectors told Mauricare: “There are a number of issues within the home which have endured throughout each monitoring visit. Although the service is progressing in some areas, there is a lack of recognition
and action regarding areas
which pose greatest risk, and therefore the likelihood of
harm occurring to those who
live in the service remains high.
“At the inspection on 27 August, 2020, we considered the representations, and although we found some of the measures you stated you had taken were in place, there was no evidence that everything had been done.
“While some initial improvement had been made in the cleanliness of equipment and some areas of the home, the lack of systems and processes in place to assure that the correct actions were being taken consistently limits the potential for sustained improvement.
“We have no confidence that the home will not revert back to the standard of environment and care given to people prior to the improvement notice and proposal to cancel being issued.”
Mauricare have said they are committed to making improvements and residents’ welfare continues to be a priority.
