The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Care home safety fears
Inspectors have raised concerns about fire safety and a lack of PPE at an Angus care home. The Care Inspectorate found automatic doorclosers had been left broken at the Glens Nursing Home in Edzell, while a crucial fire exit door in the main lounge was also not working.
Inspectors also noticed during the unannounced visits on April 21 that safety barriers had been removed from stairways, creating a risk to residents.
In a critical report, they highlighted a range of problems at the Church Street premises and ordered bosses to act immediately.
The report stated: “People were at significant risk due to poor management of essential maintenance tasks.
“Procedures for reporting repairs were not being followed and priority repairs took a long time to be completed.
“Some automatic door closers, required for fire safety, had been left broken.
“A fire exit door in the main lounge area was not working properly and may have caused delay in exiting the building in the event of a fire.
“Some safety barriers had been removed from stairways as they had been damaged but were never replaced.”
Inspectors found there was a limited supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), while staff did not use the available equipment correctly.
Other issues flagged up included dirty equipment.
The report added: “Some personal care equipment had not been cleaned properly.
“Bath hoists and toilet raisers were seen to be contaminated on the underside of surfaces,
increasing the risk of crossinfection to those using them.”
Overall, the 31-bed home – which offers residential, nursing, respite and palliative care – was given one of the worst ratings possible with four of five areas ranked as level one and described as “unsatisfactory”.
These areas were: supporting wellbeing, leadership, abilities of the staff team and standard of setting.
Planning of care and support was graded as a level two concern termed “weak”.
A spokesperson for operator Balhousie Care Group said: “Immediately following the Care Inspectorate’s visit to the Glens a month ago, we took action to address each concern raised in the report and to achieve the Care Inspectorate’s requirements.
“Following a good inspection in November
2021, it is extremely disappointing that we have failed to maintain our usual standards.
“We recognise that our residents deserve the highest quality care and our colleagues the utmost support.
“We are determined to put this right and have full confidence in the team we have in place, both at the home and in a supervisory capacity, to restore the home’s reputation and grades.”