Patients forced to eat with hands at death probe home

A DAMNING report into a care home under investigation by police has revealed that patients were kept in "terrible" conditions and a number of staff were not properly trained.

• A patient leaves the Elsie Inglis Care Home in Abbeyhill

An inspection by Scotland's social care watchdog catalogued dozens of failings at the Elsie Inglis Care Home, in Abbeyhill, dating back several months.

The findings were so bad that it caused the privately-run facility's manager to "resign with immediate effect".

The Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) report, seen by the Evening News, reveals that:

• Residents had to sleep on stained and ripped mattresses

• Patients were forced to eat stews, casseroles and mashed potatoes with their fingers

• Health, food and medication charts were not filled in properly

• Patients' teeth were sometimes not brushed

• Residents had wounds and sores

• Staff went to work when sick

• There were 20 recorded outbreaks of infection during 2010, affecting 72 patients.

Following the report's findings and the recent death of one patient, 59-year-old Lynn Beveridge, bosses at SCSWIS are now considering whether to close the operation down.

The body has until tomorrow to launch enforcement action against the care home at the Sheriff Court. If it chooses to go ahead, the facility could be shut down by Saturday. Already 60 patients have been moved out by friends or relatives.

Comments within the report said conditions were "terrible" and patients were "not always changed when necessary".

Inspectors witnessed residents scooping up stew, casserole and mashed potatoes with their fingers. One resident was given a pureed diet when this was not necessary and residents who needed a high calorie intake were often given nothing more to eat than regular patients.

Although a risk assessment for preventing bed sores was carried out on a monthly basis, there was no instruction on what to do if a risk was identified.

Lamps, curtains and windows were reported to be in poor condition and walls and chairs had food stains on them.

Staff did not always use protective clothing and accidents and incidents in the home were not always recorded.

Of nine key recommendations made to the home last October, only one was reported to have been met.

Every section of the recent report, which included quality of care and support, environment, quality of staffing and management and leadership, was given the lowest possible mark of "unsatisfactory".

One insider told the Evening News it was amongst one of "the worst care homes in Scotland" and only a handful had ever received such a low grading.

The problems came to a head when Ms Beveridge, who had Down's syndrome, was taken to hospital last Monday suffering from severe breathing difficulties. She died two days later.

Police have now launched an investigation into the actions of the care home.

Scottish Labour has today called on the Scottish Government to make an emergency statement following recent events.

Shadow health secretary Jackie Baillie said: "The Scottish Government needs to make clear what actions it has taken to ensure the safety of the residents as well as ensuring wider lessons are learnt."

A spokesman for care home owners doctors Nawal Bagaria, 69, and Susheela Bagaria, 62, last night declined to comment about the findings of the report.

The pair own two other care homes, Peacock Nursing Home and Woodlands Nursing Home - both in Livingston - which are also being "closely monitored" by the SCSWIS.