Probe into death at care home

A PROBE has been launched into the death of a resident at a city nursing home amid “serious concerns” about its quality of care.

Elsie Inglis Nursing Home in Abbeyhill is being investigated by police and Scotland’s social care watchdog following the sudden death of a 59-year-old woman at the ERI on Wednesday after she took ill at the home two days earlier.

An operation has been mounted to rehouse the other vulnerable people living at the centre.

It was reported that elderly residents were moved out the next day in what sources said was an “emergency precaution”.

Staff from Edinburgh City Council and NHS Lothian have been brought in to help care for the remaining occupants.

The care home, which has around 70 beds, was awarded a rating of “good” for “quality of care and support” in its most recent three assessments.

A spokesman for Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) – the watchdog which subsumed the Care Commission this year – said: “We continue to have serious concerns about the quality of care provided at Elsie Inglis Nursing Home and are considering whether to take enforcement against the service.

“The police are currently involved in an investigation at the service and we are working closely with them and the local authority to ensure that vulnerable residents are protected. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Meanwhile, a Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: “A report has been submitted to the procurator fiscal following the sudden death of a 59-year-old woman at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

“Lothian and Borders Police are working together with partner agencies to establish the circumstances around how she became unwell on Monday, May 16, within the private nursing home she was residing at. However, these inquiries are at a very early stage.”

Bosses at the nursing facility reportedly said they were co-operating with the investigation.

Nawal Bagaria, one of the directors of Elsie Inglis Nursing Home, said: “Elsie Inglis Nursing Home is fully co-operating with the regulatory bodies and until these discussions are over we will have no further comment.”

The city council confirmed it had drafted in staff to help and that it aided in rehousing residents understood to have been regarded as at high risk.

An Edinburgh City Council spokesman said: “Following concerns surrounding the quality of care at the nursing home, extra staff from the council and NHS Lothian have been put in place.

In addition, a number of residents have been placed in other care establishments.

“The current situation is being regularly reviewed with the home owners, council, NHS Lothian and SCSWIS Care to ensure the remaining residents’ care needs are being met.”