Inspectors unhappy with staffing at Wishaw rehab centre

A rehabilitation centre for people with brain injuries in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire has been criticised by inspectors for its high turnover of nursing staff and the sutability of the staff it employs.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) also said nurses at the Murdostoun Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre lacked appropriate experience and there was a high dependence on agency staff.

The inspection report said “most of the current nurses did not have formal qualifications or experience in rehabilitation. Low staff numbers, particularly at night, meant that sometimes 50% of staff on night duty were from an agency.”

“High turnover is not ideal in any care setting, but particularly in a rehabilitation setting where staff consistency is of key importance”.

The HIS report also noted that patients complained of boredom and there was little in the way of activities in the evenings.

Inspectors “could see little action to make sure clients had staff support for meaningful activities outside of set therapy sessions.”

HIS chief inspector Susan Brimelow said: “This inspection has identified a number of important areas where Murdostoun Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre must improve.”

“In particular, improvements are needed in the following areas: listening to what clients say and using this to improve the service; developing a team approach to care planning, and promoting independence skills with clients through increasing choice and rehabilitation opportunities by integrating care and rehabilitation activities.

But she added: “We noted areas where the service was performing well: medication management systems were well organised and storage areas are clean and tidy; and staff recruitment records and staff selection processes were well kept.”

A spokeswoman for the Huntercombe Group, which operates the centre, said: “No aspect of the service was graded unsatisfactory, but we accept the inspectors findings that there were some aspects that could be better and we have been implementing a plan agreed with Healthcare Improvement Scotland.”

The centre and it has been given until the end of next month to address the problems.

Download: Murdostoun Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre – independent healthcare inspection report: January 2015 (PDF, 904K)