A HELENSBURGH nursing home has been given pass marks for the quality of care provided to residents during the Covid-19 pandemic - but inspectors say there is room for improvement.
Care Inspectorate officials made an unannounced visit to Morar Lodge in Glasgow Street in November to evaluate how well people were being supported in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
At the time of inspection, the service was free from Covid and there had been no outbreaks of the virus at the home since the onset of the pandemic.
Morar Lodge closed early to all but essential visitors to protect its residents from infection.
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The privately owned care home, which had 21 people living in it at the time of the inspection on November 19 and is registered to provide care to older people with a range of support needs, including physical frailty and dementia, was graded as “adequate” in the report.
The report said: “We observed kind and compassionate interactions between staff and people who lived in the home.
“Care staff were familiar with the choices and preferences of people living in the home. Overall, people appeared content with their care and support.
“Staff were good at helping people maintain contact with family and friends through technology use and phone calls. Staff also supported families and friends to participate in outdoor and indoor visiting. This was organised in line with current guidance.
“Staff that we spoke with were confident that they would be able to identify and respond to changes in people’s health and wellbeing, including identifying possible typical and atypical symptoms of Covid-19.
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“They were also aware of what to do should someone become unwell. The service had well established links to health professionals and it was clear that staff were proactive about accessing specialist support and advice in response to people’s changing health care needs.”
The report noted that the home was “generally clean and odour free, but it was also untidy and cluttered in areas”.
It continued: “This meant that cleaning in some areas was difficult to do and areas where staff needed to deep clean could be missed.
“We discussed with the manager the importance of regular checks to ensure cleaning schedules were being adhered to and that cleaning was being completed to an acceptable standard. This would mean that the environment was safer for everyone in the home.”
Weekly staff testing for Covid-19 was said to be “well organised” and staff participation with testing was “good,” while the home was also commended for its stocks of PPE.
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Staffing levels were also marked as “good” and staff were described as “kind and responsive to people’s needs”.
Among the requirements and improvements needed at the home, the report mentioned that it must ensure it is “always kept tidy and hygienic,” personal plans should be reviewed to “ensure they include all the key information about how people’s care and support needs are being managed,” and all staff “would benefit from enhanced training and awareness of infection, prevention and control and the use of PPE”.
The home’s care services manager, Sandra Sallie, said: “We weren’t very happy at first with the ‘adequate’ grading, but it was a different type of report, and these things have to be done the right way.
“At the end of the day we are not ‘weak’ or ‘unsatisfactory’, we are getting there and getting to the light at the end of the tunnel.”
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