Covid-19 measures weak says watchdog
Inspectors have branded Covid-19 safety measures at a Bridge of Allan care home as weak.
Ashford House Care Home in Claremont Drive was visited by a Care Inspectorate team and an NHS nursing specialist in mid-June to find out how well people were being supported during the pandemic.
The inspectors found staff had not received specific training on Covid-19 infection control and had been given limited guidance on how to use PPE correctly.
Care and support, infection control and staffing arrangements were deemed ‘weak’, while how well people’s health and well being were being supported and safeguarded during the Covid-19 pandemic were rated as just “adequate”.
The care home is registered to care providers Mauricare and had 18 residents at the time of the inspection.
Despite the concerns raised by the inspection, the home had had no Covid-19 cases despite testing having been carried out and residents were described as appearing “content”, enjoying the food and describing staff as “kind”.
Residents were encouraged and supported to remain active and make use of the garden and regular activities took place.
However, the inspection report added: “We found that people did not have a summary of needs care plan, known as a Covid-19 care plan, in place.”
They also raised “serious concerns with the infection prevention and control measures” adding “there were no set cleaning schedules and regimes were not based on good practice guidance or carried out regularly enough”.
An urgent deep clean of the care home was required.
Workers were said to show “limited understanding” of when and how they should use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), hand washing and social distancing.
The Care Inspectorate issued the service with a serious concerns letter detailing seven key areas they required to see urgent improvements by June 15.
They added: “When we returned to the service on this date, we were pleased to see that things had improved considerably.”
The inspectors added: “On the first day of our inspection we saw that people living in the care home were not being supported to adequately socially distance in line with current government guidance. People were sitting too close together in both dining and lounge areas. This meant that should someone become unwell there was a potential risk of a spread of infection if someone had developed virus symptoms.
“We discussed this with the management team and saw an improvement on the second day. For example, in the dining room the tables had been rearranged and in the lounge area chairs had been spaced out more appropriately.
“We have asked the service to monitor this regularly and to remind workers of the importance of social distancing at this time.”
The inspectors have asked for further assurances on infection training and service systems by July 13.