A housing support and care at home service in Ayrshire did not have a “detailed staff contingency plan” if there was a significant Covid outbreak, a Care Inspectorate report says.
Inspectors also uncovered staff at Affinity Trust South Ayrshire who were not registered under the service with the industry watchdog, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).
The revelations came to light during an unannounced inspection into the service, based in Viewfield Road, Ayr.
Affinity Trust South Ayrshire is registered to provide a combined housing and care at home support service to adults.
At the time of the inspection, there were 34 people supported by the service.
The Care Inspectorate said this was a “focused inspection” to evaluate “how well people were being supported during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
They found the service ‘adequate’ in terms of care and support during the pandemic.
But an extract from the report said: “The service did not have a detailed staff contingency plan should they experience a significant outbreak and if several staff were not able to attend work at the same time.
“The service needs to devise a contingency plan should staff become absent due to Covid-19 to ensure there is minimal disruption to the people receiving support.”
In addition, the Care Inspectorate noted that “some staff” were not registered, under the service, with the SSSC, an “oversight” that bosses promised to rectify.
The Care Inspectorate said: “Not all staff were currently registered, under the service, with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).
“Some were under different Affinity Trust services and others under other care providers. The SSSC is responsible for registering people who work in social services and regulating their education and training.
“The provider did acknowledge that this had been an oversight on their part and made steps to rectify this during the inspection.”
The service was rated ‘good’ across four quality indicators and ‘adequate’ across three others.
However, some improvements have been sought by Tuesday, February 15.
Among the improvements to be made, the service must ensure that the training provided and systems are in place to assess and monitor staff competency, regarding infection prevention and control practice are “in line with health and protection Scotland guidance.”
Another requirement is for the service to show it is “well led” has “effective oversight and monitoring tools” for all aspects of care and support and that staff have “professional registrations” with organisations such as the SSSC.
The Care Inspectorate noted that service users they spoke to told them they were “mostly happy” with their support and staff were “respectful, warm, and compassionate.”
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