Care home resident went without bath for a month – report

Published on 27/06/2012 01:10

AN ELDERLY resident at a Scottish care home may have gone a month without having a bath or a shower, according to a damning report by the industry watchdog.

Officials from the Care Inspectorate also found that residents at the Bucksburn Care Home in Aberdeen were not being encouraged to use the toilet or being offered showers in line with the preferences in their care plans during an unannounced inspection of the home last month.

They found that the wounds of residents were not being assessed or managed properly and there was “confusion” over medication being given to residents at the home, which is run by Guthrie Court Ltd, part of the Four Seasons Health Care Group.

And concerns have also been raised about the high numbers of agency staff being used instead of permanent registered nurses at the home.

A report by the Care Inspectorate has labelled the quality of care and support at the home as “weak” and the quality of staffing, management and leadership as “adequate”.

The report also reveals that two unspecified complaints in relation to the home are still being investigated.

Lorraine McDonald, who headed the inspection, states in her report: “Unfortunately, since the last inspection the quality of participation and involving residents in the life of the home had deteriorated. This had been due to lack of effective management and direction over the past few months.

“Observation of practice highlighted that residents were not being offered or encouraged to use the toilet, before meals or throughout the morning. Residents were not being offered showers in line with their preferences in their care plans.

“In one instance there was no record of a resident having a shower or bath for over one month.”

The report continued: “The home only had three permanent registered nurses, and a significant amount of agency nurses were being used. “The home needs to improve the induction and communication for agency staff. There was confusion over medication, resulting in a resident’s pain control being poorly managed.”

Lindsay Scott, a spokesman for the charity Age Scotland, said: “It could simply be bad record keeping. But if it’s not then it is worrying because not having a bath for month could obviously have a serious detrimental effect on the wellbeing of the resident concerned.”

A spokeswoman for Four Seasons said: “We have accepted the observations made by the Care Inspectorate officers and have been addressing them.”