A Dundee care home left an elderly resident lying outside in snow, another resident without prescribed pain relief and failed to give a third resident regular medication for three weeks, a Care Commission report has revealed.
Another man lost significant weight after his food intake went unchecked for a month at Ballumbie Court Care Home.
The scale of problems uncovered by inspectors at the home led to the lowest possible grading being given to the premises, which are owned by Darlington-based Southern Cross Healthcare.
Almost two months after Care Commission officers visited and branded the care and environment as “unsatisfactory”, the body responsible for monitoring and regulating care homes has made public its critical report.
The regulator also said it would revisit the home “in the near future” to ensure improvements have been made.
On the day inspectors visited they found a resident left unsupervised in the sitting room with food he did not eat, though his care plan stated he needed assistance and encouragement with his meals due to weight loss.
The resident had been assessed as requiring weekly monitoring of his weight to ensure he ate enough but inspectors found there had been no monitoring for a month and the man’s weight had dropped “significantly” during that time.
One resident had a record of aggressive behaviour towards other residents but inspectors spoke to a senior staff member who was unaware of the resident’s needs or recorded incidents of physical aggression.
The staff member had not read residents’ care plans and blamed staffing levels and workload.
A previous inspection had called for improvements to medication management but the latest visit by inspectors found unacceptable practices including:One resident’s wound being dressed using a dressing prescribed for another resident. Another resident’s pain relief medication was out of stock. Another resident’s medication had been out of stock for three weeks.Several members of staff raised concerns about staffing levels in the home, telling inspectors they felt unable to carry out more than the basic level of care.
They claimed areas of the home were left unsupervised for extended periods due to lack of staff and the lack of a reliable call alarm system threatened the safety of staff and residents.
During the inspection the manager confirmed that arrangements were in place to increase staffing levels and inspectors said they would follow that up at the next inspection.
One resident was identified as being at risk if they left the building alone.
That resident had been found outside in the garden lying on the ground in the snow after another resident made staff aware of the situation.
The inspectors learned that the day before that incident the garden paths were being cleared by the fire service. The door alarms that alerted staff to doors being opened had been switched off to allow the path clearing and not reactivated afterwards.
There was no effective system to ensure alarms operated appropriately at all times, a situation inspectors branded “not acceptable.”
Andrew Williamson, area manager for Southern Cross Healthcare, said, “Since an action plan was agreed with the Care Commission, we have been working vigorously towards its completion.
“Many highlighted issues have already been resolved, some being addressed prior to the inspection, and feedback from residents and relatives over recent weeks has been extremely positive.
“We will continue to work closely with the Care Commission as we monitor and review the services at Ballumbie Court Care Home and are now looking toward the follow-up inspection, which we are confident will reflect the improved standards of quality and care.”
A Care Commission spokesman said the service grades at Ballumbie were “unacceptable” and a number of requirements for improvement had been identified. The home had stopped accepting new residents until areas identified for improvement had been fully addressed.
“The Care Commission has been working closely with the service to ensure that improvements are being made and maintained,” he said.
“We will be carrying out a visit in the near future to check that the service has taken the necessary action to address all our requirements, and we will also carry out a full inspection as a matter of priority.”