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Staffing level concerns flagged in Dingwall care home despite report praise


By Staff Reporter

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There was praise for staff willing to go the extra mile despite concerns about staffing levels.
There was praise for staff willing to go the extra mile despite concerns about staffing levels.

STAFFING levels at a care home in Dingwall catering for up to 50 adults, some with dementia and mental health problems, came under scrutiny in a recent review by the Care Inspectorate.

While family and carers said staff were willing 'to go the extra mile' making Wyvis House a safe and welcoming home several felt there was not enough staff and some could be better trained.

One comment received in a questionnaire stated: 'Good today but sometimes it is pandemonium'.

Inspectors themselves in their findings commented: "There were times when staffing levels compromised the quality of care as people did not receive the right level of support they needed.

"This was more evident with people using the upstairs dining room or those people having their meals in the lounge."

Inspectors have said mealtime experiences should be monitored to ensure that all people receive the right support at the right time and that all mealtimes are a pleasant experience for everyone.

The home's evaluation for supporting people's wellbeing was 'good'.

"There were a number of important strengths which taken together, clearly outweighed areas for improvements," says the findings in the review.

"The strengths had a significant positive impact on people's experiences and outcomes.

"Improvements are needed to maximise wellbeing and ensure that people consistently have experiences and outcomes which are as positive as possible," inspectors said in their report of the inspection which took place in March.

Staffing was rated as 'adequate' and inspectors said people's needs should be met by the right number of people and staff should have the time to support and care for people and speak with them.

"The service carried out dependency assessments for each person to calculate staff hours using a dependency tool.

"This did not take account of the layout of the building or how the staff hours were deployed which we discussed with the management.

"We observed people frequently used the alarm system to summon assistance to alert staff when they needed help and sometimes staff took a long time to respond.

"There were times during the day when the staffing levels compromised the care and quality of interactions with people."

The inspectors recommended that the provider and manager should ensure there are sufficient staff on duty to ensure people receive the right car and support at the right time.and management and staff should continue to develop care plans with people to include what is important to them and the outcomes they wish to achieve.

Wyvis House is run by RDS Healthcare Ltd.


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