A troubled Paisley care home faces being stripped of its licence after “serious concerns” were flagged by inspectors.
Westerfield Care Home has been warned that it could lose its registration due to issues regarding cleanliness and infection control.
The problems were uncovered during a surprise inspection earlier this month.
Bosses at the High Calside facility - which is home to 63 residents - now have until May to address the issues, which inspectors classed as ‘severe’.
Managers were issued an Improvement Notice this week, having previously been issued a Letter of Serious Concern by the Care Inspectorate on March 13.
According to an email seen by the Express from Renfrewshire Council’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) interim director Christine Laverty, inspectors raised “concerns in relation to cleanliness within the care home and staff not always adhering to the correct infection, prevention and control procedures in relation to the wearing of PPE (personal protective equipment)”.
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The email states that management were told “unless there is a significant improvement in provision of the service, the Care Inspectorate intends to make a proposal to cancel their registration”.
It adds: “Failure in the provider to demonstrate compliance with any one of the improvements within the required timescale of May 6, 2022 may result in the Care Inspectorate proceeding to make a proposal to cancel the care home registration.”
This is the second time the facility, which is operated by Handsale Care Ltd, has been under scrutiny from inspectors, having been given a damning report in February last year in which inspectors raised “serious concerns” and graded the home as ‘weak’.
This was upgraded to ‘adequate’ after follow-up inspections in March last year.
Bosses at the company said the unprecedented two years of the Covid-19 pandemic had caused “unique stresses”, however, made no excuses for the failures.
A care director for Handsale Care Ltd said: “Unfortunately, following a recent inspection by the Care Inspectorate, areas requiring improvement have been identified and a notice of improvement has been issued.
“The safety of our residents is of paramount importance to us, but, on this occasion, we’ve failed to meet the high expectations that we set ourselves.
“We apologise for this to the residents and families of those in our care.
“The past two years have been an unprecedented period for the adult social care sector, and whilst we offer no excuses, we have been faced with unique stresses and an enormously challenging climate. We will be doing our utmost to swiftly and meaningfully address the shortfalls identified at the inspection.
“During this time, we will keep our residents safe and well as we look to rectify the issues as quickly as possible, working closely with the Care Inspectorate and our partners at Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership to ensure the relevant improvements are made swiftly and efficiently.”
To address the most severe concerns, improvements which the care home has been ordered to make are:
●Ensure the internal premises, furnishings, mattresses, and equipment are clean and safe.
●Ensure that processes such as enhanced cleaning schedules and robust quality assurance checks of the care home environment are in place and appropriate remedial actions taken.
●Ensure that all staff working within the care home adhere to correct infection, prevention and control procedures in relation to the correct wearing of PPE.
Other improvements staff must make are making sure residents “health, safety, and well-being needs are met in a manner which promotes their dignity” which should include “their personal care and continence support needs”.
Ms Laverty said teams from the HSCP would support the care home while improvements were carried out.
A meeting was also held on Thursday with bosses at Westerfield to discuss the concerns.
She said: “The HSCP senior nursing team and care home liaison team will continue to support the care home and care home manager.
“The Care Inspectorate will also be in attendance in the coming days.
“The HSCP and partners will hold an initial multi-agency large scale investigation (LSI) planning meeting to determine if there is a need to progress to a formal LSI.
“The Care Inspectorate will closely monitor the actions.”
