Managers of a Highland Perthshire care home have been told to address “serious concerns” raised by inspectors about a lack of activities for residents who told them they were “bored” during a recent assessment.
The Care Inspectorate has recommended bosses at Balhousie Pitlochry Care Home review the way in which activities are organised and arrange for “sufficient staff” to be on hand to help people engage in them after residents complained there was “not a lot to do”.
The body has also advised managers to draw up more detailed personal care plans for residents after inspectors said they saw several examples of documents during their time at the Burnside Road home that were not up to the standard expected.
The inspectorate ended up rating four out of five qualities of care assessed during the three day inspection as “weak” including the service’s support of people’s wellbeing and has said it now requires improvements by the end of October.
A Care Inspectorate report published this week said of the standards observed in August: “People should expect to experience compassion, dignity and respect. We had serious concerns that staff appeared rushed and had no time for meaningful interaction with people.
“People were not supported in having freedom of movement. We heard that people had not been supported to use the garden over the summer.
“People did not have the right equipment in place to enable them to spend time out of their bed. This put their skin at risk of pressure wounds and was detrimental to their rehabilitation.”
The report continued: “People were experiencing care and support at a basic level, focussed on tasks and routines which did not treat them as individuals entitled to personalised care.
“People were not enabled to have a sense of purpose. We were very concerned to find that people were not supported to get the most out of life.
“Opportunities for meaningful engagement were sparse. The wellbeing co-ordinator post was vacant and other staff did not have sufficient capacity to compensate for this.
“As a result people tended to spend a lot of time in their own rooms as there were no activities to entice them into communal areas.
“People living in the service told us, ‘I’m pretty bored, there is not a lot to do’ and ‘there’s not much happening during the day’ and ‘staff always say they are too busy and will help me later.’ Family members also told us, ‘there is little in the way of stimulation or activities.’
“Lack of social stimulation and physical activity can have a significant impact on people’s sense of wellbeing as well as their physical and emotional health.”
On the subject of people’s personal care plans the report added: “We had serious concerns about the personal plans.
“There were several examples of where they did not accurately reflect the care experienced by people who live in the service.
“The plans did not evidence meaningful involvement of the person and there was a focus on people’s needs and tasks to be carried out.
“Personal plans were not in place to support people to do the things that mattered to them and help to make life meaningful and enjoyable.
“There was little recognition of nurturing personal strengths, social and community networks.”
A spokesperson for Balhousie Care Group commented: “Our residents and their care and respect is at the heart of what we do, which is why the Care Inspectorate’s findings on a visit to our Pitlochry home were very disappointing.
“We are, however, thankful to the Care Inspectorate for highlighting the serious staffing challenges facing the whole of the social care and health sector right now.
“Work began immediately to address the concerns in the report and we have every faith in the Pitlochry team, which has a strong reputation for its care, that it will meet the Care Inspectorate’s requirements.”
