Scottish care home saved from closure after making improvements

A care home on the Scottish borders has been given a reprieve over closure threat, after significant improvements were made.

After five inspections by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (SCRC) of the home between April 2008 and March 2009, the home was found to be providing inadequate care standards.

In 2008, Gary Hartland, boss of Guardian Care Home UK, who own the home, said “We apologise wholeheartedly to our residents and their families for this unacceptable fall from the normally high standards that we set and maintain in our care homes”.

He promised a £400,000 facelift to improve living conditions for residents.

This year, Guardian Care brought in a management team to guide the major improvement and amend the standard of care for the 29 residents living there.

The latest inspection found that care standards had improved adequately and closure plans were taken off the table.

In 2008, the SCRC altered their inspection system to grade care homes on four themes of care and support, environment, staffing and leadership and management. These are each graded on a six point scale from unsatisfactory to excellent.

The SCRC, otherwise known as Care Commission, is a separate entity to the Care Quality Commission, which regulates and inspects health and social care services in England.