Staff crisis hitting care home performance​

The Home, which is operated by the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, provides residential care for up to 17 people, although capacity is currently capped at 15 due to staffing constraints.

In February, inspectors found the service was either “weak” or “adequate” in five key areas. However it praises the work of staff and stresses the strain put on management by staff shortages. The manager had been covering staff shifts as the home was finding recruitment difficult “due to the rurality of the service”.

As a result, the manager “had not been able to carry out aspects of their job role and most management and leadership areas required attention”, says the report. The depute manager and senior staff had also been covering core shifts, “which meant they had been unable to support with this either.”

Inspectors state that the manager should not return to covering core shifts to the level which had occurred recently, as this “created risks to the effectiveness of the service and of the experiences to people.”

“At the time of our inspection,” the report notes, “we did not identify that people were being harmed, but we recognised there was the potential risk of harm due to the required improvements.”

Families and staff felt the manager “was approachable and kind in their approach and would listen and support fully with their enquiries” and the manager had “positive working relationships with the people, their family, staff, and external professionals and that was evidenced in feedback we received”.

The Inspectorate made a requirement that by May 5th, the Home “must ensure people are provided with the right care and support which is led and managed well,” along with a service improvement plan to establish “continuous improvement” in the service.

The service is now also required to ensure there are “safe and appropriate levels of staff to support people,” and the service provider must ensure “staff receive mandatory training and development opportunities to enable them to demonstrate competency in their roles.”

In terms of supporting residents’ well-being, Inspectors noted “experienced care and support which was respectful, kind, and compassionate,” and they “knew the staff well because the staff team had been mostly stable.”

“People felt safe and told us they were treated well by staff,” the report states, adding: “We observed many warm, kind, and compassionate interactions between staff and people living there”.

Cultural and faith-based needs were being met, said the report, though staff needed “to look at ways to develop their activities programme for people, with the aim of enhancing choices on a day-to-day basis,” the report states.