Home’ s infection control practices ‘weak’: Report

AFife care home at the centre of a Covid-19 outbreak which resulted in the deaths of 12 of its residents has been criticised in a new Care Inspectorate report.

Inspectors visiting West Park Care Home in Leslie branded the infection control practices there “weak” after “significant concerns” were raised about a number of contaminated mattresses.

Other areas of concern included contaminated toilet frames and raiser seats and encrusted foodstuffs on a small number of dining tables.

“People’s welfare and safety were compromised as all of these issues increased the risk of transmission of infection to everyone in the home,” it was stated in the report which was made public this week.

The report, which followed an inspection carried out on February 25, also scored West Park’s care and support during the pandemic as “weak”, the second worst outcome.

“Systems and processes in place to deliver and provide assurance that the home was cleaned to an acceptable standard to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19 from exposure to the environment were not good enough,” the report said.

The home, which offers round-the-clock care for up to 38 elderly residents and those with dementia, had remained virus-free during lockdown up until December, before the devastating news 51 people connected to West Park had tested positive and that 12 died as a result.

Following the inspection, five contaminated mattresses were replaced with new ones within 48 hours while the operator confirmed every mattress cover had been put through an ozone wash cycle to disinfect them.

In addition, all bed frames and equipment had been cleaned with chlorinebased solution, in line with national guidance.

The NHS mattress audit tool for care homes has also now been introduced, while other contaminated equipment and furniture has either been cleaned and sanitised or discarded.

In the wake of the findings, the operator has increased the number of man hours needed to ensure cleanliness is maintained at the home.

In other areas of inspection, the care home – which has operated since 2004 – was marked as “good”.

The report also noted there was a good supply of personal protective equipment at the home, as well as cleaning equipment, and that laundry and waste – including clinical waste – was being managed appropriately.

Furthermore, staff were seen to perform hand hygiene before and after providing care to people, before tasks such as serving meals and after touching frequently-touched surfaces.

Wellbeing of residents was also noted as good, with many being supported to stay both physically and mentally well during the pandemic.

Residents were also supported in having regular contact with family and friends through telephone calls and virtual technology.

Irene Bright, managing director of West Park Care Home, said: “We have one requirement from that inspection.

“This requirement was acted upon immediately and will be seen to have been upheld and met when we are next inspected.

“Our care inspectors have supported and guided us for this improvement and implementation.”

A new £13 million genomic sequencing centre will be set up in Scotland to identify variants of coronavirus, Nicola Sturgeon said.

The first minister said the centre will be able to sequence up to 1,000 samples per day.

She said: “That’s going to be really important in the next phase of the pandemic, helping us identify new variants at as early a stage as possible so that we can try, where those variants are of concern, to make as sure as we can that they don’t get a foothold into the community.”

At the daily briefing she announced 12 coronavirus deaths and 625 positive cases recorded in the past 24 hours.

The daily test positivity rate is 3%, down from 3.8% the previous day.

There are 422 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down 18 in 24 hours.

Ms Sturgeon said vaccinations are “now accelerating again as supplies have picked up”.