Care unit warned it must improve or face closure

A CARE unit for vulnerable adults in Edinburgh has been ordered to improve or face being closed down. The Leonard Cheshire facility in Leith has been criticised by governing body Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) for not dealing with clients’ medication needs properly.

The issue has been one regularly raised in past inspection reports, with SCSWIS, which replaced the Care Commission, now increasing the pressure on the unit. However, it is unclear if any one particular incident sparked the move.

The Trafalgar Lane housing support service was criticised in an inspection report last year and a number of complaints have been made to the organisation. The service, which provides support for six people, now has a week to prove that it has changed its practice on “medication management systems” or face being closed.

Sources said SCSWIS was working closely with the city council to make sure that did not happen, while Leonard Cheshire itself today acknowledged the failings.

The improvement notice stated that a review was required to ensure medicines were given safely and correctly and proper records were kept.

A Leonard Cheshire spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we received an improvement notice from the Care Commission (now SCSWIS] in March 2011 for our Trafalgar Lane service in Edinburgh.

“We are working closely with them to achieve the improvements needed within the time-scales required and are keeping our customers informed.

“We aim to provide the very highest quality of support to all our customers. Unfortunately, on this occasion, we failed to meet these standards and we have already apologised to the people who use this service.”

A report last year branded the quality of care and support in the unit as “weak”.

It added: “We continued to see practice which was not showing respect and dignity for service users.”

Mention was made of incidents where staff were late for appointments with clients but had not notified them.

It is understood SCSWIS would only close a facility as a last resort, given the difficulty in finding supported accommodation for adults with support and learning needs in the city.

The facility has a history of poor inspections, with a visit in 2009 finding three areas of weakness. A year previously the level of care and support was found to be “unsatisfactory”.