Care Inspectorate Scotland says Ross-shire care home on right track following latest unannounced inspection
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A CARE home which was told to take action after inspectors labelled some of its care and support during the pandemic as "weak", has continued to make improvements.
Wyvis House Care Home in Dingwall had been given the "weak" rating for its pandemic care during an inspection back in December.
But, after being tasked with making several improvements, a follow-up surprise inspection in January found the same support to be "adequate".
And a further unannounced inspection last week has found that further improvements have been made – and two out of three requirements set by earlier inspectors have been met.
The inspection, which was focussed solely on the areas earmarked for improvement in the earlier visits, once again rated Wyvis House’s care and support during the pandemic as "adequate".
The Care Inspectorate Scotland said that quality indicators over the safeguarding of residents during the pandemic, as well as infection control practices, had both been met by the home.
They said: “The service had made improvements to care planning. Staff had involved external health professionals to ensure appropriate access to treatment and care, such as dietitians and tissue viability nurses. Staff followed the advice they received which led to improvement or maintenance in areas of care.”
They added that the home had also “developed a plan to make improvements which will ensure people are living in pleasant and well-maintained premises”, and that although Covid pandemic restrictions meant that outside contractors were unable to come in to carry out some work on the building, the imminent easing of some restrictions should help with that.
The report found that one remaining area for improvement has not yet been met, but the home was working on it.
“The service was in the early stages of using a quality assurance system to assess and then plan for improvements to enhance people's experiences. We found that action plans were not always developed following an assessment.”
But they added that: “Staff had received training in relation to the management of Covid-19 and this included aspect of infection prevention and control. There were systems in place that ensured staff practices were monitored and assessed.
“Staff had access to current guidance, and we could see that where this had changed, they were informed. Overall, this meant that staff were aware of how to protect the people they were caring for and minimise any risks.”
They have now set two follow-up targets for improvement. The first is that it “implement and complete the improvement plan” by September 17 “to ensure that service users experienced a pleasant and well-maintained place to live”.
And the second is that it “implement and ensure quality management and assurance systems are in place” by June 17.
Related news: Covid-19 prevention measures 'better' at Ross-shire care home
