Grantown care home owners shocked by Covid-19 inspection report findings
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The owners of a Grantown care home, rated only “weak” and at best “adequate” by the Care Inspectorate after a Covid-related inspection, have told the Strathy they are “devastated” by the grades.
Grandview Nursing Home on the High Street was graded only two (weak) out of a possible six for the care and support being provided during the pandemic.
The home was awarded three marks (adequate) for the health and wellbeing support and safeguarding it was delivering. Infection control practices to safeguard residents and staff were deemed weak.
For the past five years, the home has usually been rated as very good across the board.
Dinah Eavis, one of the directors, told the Strathy: “They (grades) are not a reflection on the team. They continue to provide compassionate care and support as they have done over many years.
“We would like to thank everyone at Grandview – the families, health care professionals and the wider community whose support and kindness continue to overwhelm us.”
The inspectors made an unannounced visit on October 28 to Grandview, and there were 40 residents at the time. Four relatives contacted the inspectors and the feedback received was positive.
There was lots of praise in the report for the nursing home, but this was undone by the shortcomings including with care plans, recording of end-of-life wishes for residents, and some personal protective equipment matters (PPE).
The inspectors stated: “We found that opportunities for people and their relatives to be involved in decisions about their care and support were limited... While there was good access to GPs and other allied healthcare professionals, we did not always see this detail in the care plans. This meant that most of the care plans we viewed lacked enough detail to direct staff to enable them to meet people’s health and care needs.”
The report continued: “The service did not have access to people’s anticipatory care plans as these were stored at the GP surgery. Do Not Attempt to Resuscitate information had not been reviewed, in some cases for several years.... There were no end-of-life care plans in place.”
On infection control, the inspectors again said there were a number of strengths, but these were outweighed or compromised by significant weaknesses. They found the home was clean, tidy and generally well-maintained and there had been some decluttering to make it easier to clean during the pandemic while still retaining a homely feel.
Housekeeping hours had been increased and cleaning schedules updated to include regular deep cleaning.
But inspectors continued: “We found a number of stained mattress covers, and no system that demonstrated these were being regularly checked and replaced. In addition, we saw that soiled mattress covers were not being regularly changed and laundered.”
They said there was a good supply of PPE, but this was not readily available throughout all areas of the home. While most staff were found to use and wear PPE appropriately, this was not the case with everyone. Some staff were not changing out of their uniform before going home.
There were many good aspects in the report too. Inspectors found that the staff were “compassionate, caring, and upheld people’s dignity. Relatives spoke highly of the staff team and felt they were ‘wonderful’ and ‘extremely caring’.”
The home has until the end of this month to improve infection control.
Ms Eavis said: “We are working closely with NHS Highland and the Care Inspectorate to resolve the concerns that have been raised. If families have concerns please contact Grandview or one of the directors.”
The link to the inspection report can be found here
