Care Home Delivers Improvements To Residents

Following the Care Commission’s publication of the results of its review into the Quality of Care Services in Scotland, one care service highlights the benefits of embracing the National Care Standards to improve the quality of care offered to residents.

Wheatlands Care Home in Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, is a shining example of how strong organisational leadership and a skilled workforce can work together to improve a service which had previously raised some concerns.

Prior to a change of ownership at the home in November 2006, the Care Commission had previously taken action against the home about some aspects of the National Care Standards not being met.

Areas where improvement was required included maintaining standards in the accommodation and improving the records about the likes, dislikes and needs of residents in the personal care plans.

But since the change of ownership at the home, management and staff have worked extremely hard to address requirements made by the Care Commission and significantly improve the service for their residents.

Liz Norton, director of adult services regulation at the Care Commission, said: “Wheatlands Care Home is a prime example of how a service can constructively act on requirements made by the Care Commission to improve the service for residents.

“While the standard of care at the service was good, we did have concerns that the accommodation was not maintained in terms of décor and environment and that the  paperwork for personal care plans did not reflect the detail needed to ensure consistent,   quality care for each resident.  .

“These may seem like more trivial aspects of improving care but the providers were fully committed to acting on these requirements and worked very closely with the Care Commission to enhance the service they were able to offer to residents.

“Every care service has ways in which they can develop and improve and Wheatlands is a tremendous example of how services can embrace this improvement. After all, the common goal of the Care Commission and care services is to ensure users receive the best care possible.”

Helen McIntyre, manager of Wheatlands Care Home, said: “We have always prided ourselves on providing an extremely high standard of care for our residents and we therefore take on board the Care Commission’s comments about our service.

“While the standard of care for our residents never dropped we recognised that more attention could have been paid to maintaining the environment in the home and recording paperwork with regards to care plans.

“Through strong leadership and investment responded to the Care Commission’s requirements and ultimately improved the overall service our residents enjoy.

“Wheatlands welcome any constructive input from the Care Commission, and we are fortunate in having Pauline Kyle as a person committed to working with us in a team effort. We all feel the level of care is now exceptionally good as well as the accommodation decor and so forth.”