Wyvis House care home in Dingwall given until next week by Care Inspectorate to resolve issues of concern
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A DINGWALL care home has been given until Monday to resolve issues brought up by inspectors who rated it “weak” in two key areas and demanded improvements.
A Care Inspectorate report into Wyvis House following an unannounced visit last month was critical of how it supported people’s wellbeing and care and support during the pandemic.
Inspectors found the environment to be cluttered and dirty, presenting a significant risk to people living and working there.
They issued a letter of serious concern detailing what was required to ensure the home was clean and safe. Inspectors revisited five days later and, according to the report, found some improvements though some areas still required attention.
Inspectors were concerned that storage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was not hygienically clean and the main dining room was dirty and the table linen was stained.
The report said: “The premises looked tired, worn and in need of refurbishment. Furniture and soft furnishings were worn and stained. For example, a number of chairs were in poor condition, showed evidence of being soiled, and required to be replaced; some cushions were not clean, flooring in some areas was stained, not intact and required to be replaced.
“We checked the condition of a number of mattresses, and pillows. We found some waterproof covers were worn and impaired, mattresses were stained and unclean and some of the pillows were stained.”
The inspectorate has issued an improvement notice for this area with the deadline of Monday.
Inspectors found that assessment documentation focussed on residents’ physical and nursing tasks such as eating, transferring and toileting, but there was no consideration of how their social, emotional and psychological needs would be met.
They also noted that it did not include the skills mix of staff or the distribution of direct care hours over the 24-hour period. The report said: “This is a significant aspect of care and support, particularly for those people that have to remain in bed.”
The inspectorate has given the care home until February 28 to ensure the dependency tool captured the skills mix and the distribution of direct care hours.
It said: “The provider must also show how people’s social, emotional and psychological needs are being considered and how they inform the staffing.”
In particular they must:
• for everyone using the service, keep individual records of four weekly assessments of physical, social, psychological and recreational needs and choices as to how they will deliver their care;
• keep a record of the assessment that identifies the minimum staffing levels and deployment of staff on each shift over a four week period;
• the assessment of staffing level and deployment must be available to any visitors to the service and everyone using it.
In addition the inspectors have outlined a number of requirements relating to the care of residents and supported people’s wellbeing.
Wyvis House was invited to comment but had not done so as we went to press.
