Dumfries care home criticised by inspectors

A NURSING home where a 90-year-old woman was left for two days with an untreated broken hip has been handed another critical inspection.

Overall standards at Goldielea Care Home have gone down in some areas when compared to a previous inspection by the regulator.

The facility, on the outskirts of Dumfries at Dalbeattie Road, came under the spotlight last month during a Standard investigation into levels of care for the elderly in the region.

It emerged that a Goldielea resident – Margaret Rogerson – was left in agony for more than 48 hours with a broken hip, despite a care worker witnessing the fall which caused it.

She died in hospital a few days later.

The latest inspection by Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) was carried out in May and published this week.

Inspectors can award one of six grading levels – excellent, very good, good, adequate, weak and unsatisfactory.

And homes are graded under four categories – care, environment, staffing and leadership.

Goldielea was marked as unsatisfactory for care; adequate for environment; unsatisfactory for staffing and; weak for leadership.

In the previous inspection in November last year, it was given grades of weak, weak, unsatisfactory and adequate in the four respective areas.

It means standards have declined in care and leadership, have remained the same in staffing and have improved slightly in environment.

Despite the staff grading, the workforce is praised in the 54-page report.

According to the SCSWIS good comments have been made by service users and their relatives.

Recommendations

However, the regulator highlights several areas where improvements have not been made and make several more recommendations which have to implemented.

In conclusion, inspector Chris Barratt notes: “Most relatives and service users told us that Goldielea is a good home.

“Typical comments included that staff work very hard and are pleasant and approachable.

“People like the location and layout of the home and are mostly happy with the care provided at Goldielea.

“We saw evidence of a warm, caring and sensitive approach by staff to service users’ personal care. Those service users who have been able to join in with activities and events in the home have enjoyed these.

“Despite our comments above, we also saw many areas which still need improvement and the overall grades we have given reflect this.

“Following this inspection we have made as many requirements as we did following our last inspection, but slightly fewer recommendations. The service still has a lot of work to do to fully meet with the National Care Standards.

“Although we have seen some promising signs of improvement, our scrutiny of the service at Goldielea continues to give us cause for concern, especially where, in some cases, this has resulted in unsatisfactory outcomes for service users.”

The inspector highlights issues around the future of the care home as its owners – Ancyra PLC – are currently in administration with debts of almost £40million.

It suggested this had affected staff morale and was a concern for resident’s relatives but the news of a potential buyer had meant those attitudes were improving.

A string of recommendations include better recording of residents’ needs and views; creating activities that stimulate staff and; better use of care plans surrounding the use of wheelchairs as some service users were found to be “left in their wheelchairs for unnecessarily prolonged periods”.

The report said that a new manager was aware of the need for improvements.

It states: “A new acting external manager has also recently been appointed and she has acknowledged the urgent need for improvement and told us this that she will be giving priority to this.

“We note however that this is only an acting position and that an announcement is imminent concerning the future ownership of the service.

“We will continue to seek assurances concerning the service provider’s commitment to improving the service and ensuring appropriate resources and support.”

The care home’s administrators, London-based BDO, were unable to comment yesterday as the Standard went to press.