Plans to reopen a controversial Ayrshire care home have been dealt a body blow.
The Care Inspectorate found a number of problems at Nightingale House, in Auchinleck.
They claimed there is ‘no plan’ in place to welcome new admissions.
The Care Inspectorate also raised concerns that the aims and objectives of care home bosses lacked ‘clarity’ and ‘required to be reviewed.’
Last summer Nightingale House was forced to close after the Care Inspectorate applied to the courts to have its registration cancelled.
The news followed evidence of “faecal contamination” found during an inspection of the home.
The Care Inspectorate also accused the care home, on the village’s Main Street, of putting residents’ health and safety ‘at risk’- because of the living conditions at the time.
Despite the threat of having their registration ripped up, Nightingale House, it is understood, retained their credentials.
However, plans to re-open the home to new admissions have suffered a fresh set-back.
The Care Inspectorate made an unannounced visit to Nightingale House earlier this month, but they graded the service ‘weak’ across several quality indicators.
Now they have given bosses at the care home until March 14 to make improvements.
An extract from the Care Inspectorate report said: “The current aims and objectives of the service lack clarity and require to be reviewed. Clear aims and objectives help to define the direction and purpose of the service.”
The report goes on: “The service is not currently supporting any residents.
“The provider told us that they were preparing the service to receive new admissions.
“We were concerned there was no plan in place to detail the provider’s preparations.
“The provider must be able to demonstrate that appropriate arrangements are planned to fully support the health, welfare and safety of people admitted to the home.”
The home had also undergone redecoration, but the scrutiny body was not impressed.
The report states: “We saw that communal dining and sitting rooms had been redecorated. The bedrooms that we looked at had been redecorated. However, the standard of décor, furniture and facilities in these rooms were of a poor standard.
“There were aspects of the facilities which would increase the risk of falls for people using them. This included the showering facilities in some en-suites and poor lighting in bedrooms and corridors.
“To support people’s wellbeing, they should expect to live in a home that has a range of good quality equipment and furnishings. We noted that bedrooms contained mismatched furniture, some of which needed repaired.
“Some bedding was of a poor quality and would not enhance the comfort of the person in bed.”
Among the numerous requirements to be adhered to, bosses must “review the aims and objectives for the service,” as well as demonstrate how the environment of the home will be “improved” to support a responsive approach to the care of individuals and promote the “principles of respect, dignity, and safety.”
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