ADMISSIONS to a care home have been suspended after inspectors found staff ignoring cries of pain and leaving patients in food-stained and wet clothes.
Tranent Care Home, East Lothian, has been told to stop new admissions after a Care Inspectorate report rated it “unsatisfactory” following an inspection in May.
The home, which lists “one-to-one” time with staff as a key service, is run by private company HC-One, but 51 of its 60 beds are paid for by the local council.
East Lothian Council confirmed it had received 23 complaints relating to the care home since 2010.
The council has now suspended admissions to the care home until they are satisfied improvements have been made.
The care home does not publish its fees online, but the average annual cost that residents in private and publically funded care homes in Scotland pay is £30,628.
The report of the home stated: “Some residents looked unkempt and had clothing that was past its best.
“There were people with unbrushed hair, unshaven men, people who were wet and not changed and some with food-stained and dirty clothing.
“Some residents were seen to need attention to eye care, with eyes crusted and sticky.”
With reference to meal time, the report states: “One resident was unsettled and continued to shout for help and kept saying that they were in pain. Staff appeared to ignore this for a while before going to her.
“One person drank their soup from the bowl. A small amount of this was taken and a staff member took the plate away. No one noticed that the resident may have managed better if the soup was served in a mug.”
Relatives of care home residents also criticise staff in the report.
One relative is quoted as saying: “Residents [are] shouting for help in their rooms and no urgency for assistance [is] given. [There is] no buzzer near to them and some staff have been heard to say, ‘oh they’re always shouting’.
“I have seen residents who have fallen out of bed, been uncomfortable, unable to reach a drink or food and in pain or needing the toilet and being told they were there an hour ago.”
The findings in the report are very different to the claims that HC-One make in the care home’s brochure.
The brochure states: “At HC-One our experienced home managers and members of staff ensure kindness is at the heart of everything we do.
“Many of our residents find the one-on-one time with our members of staff particularly enjoyable.”
“We have a range of comfortable and well equipped bedrooms.”
East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership confirmed that new admissions to the care home had been suspended.
They said: “We have been working closely with HC-One to put in place a comprehensive action plan to address the Care Inspectorate’s feedback. Some progress has been made since the inspection three months ago.
“We have had regular meetings with relatives and have held two meetings for relatives with HC-One, to help answer questions and address concerns.
“We will continue to work with HC-One until Care Inspectorate recommendations for change are implemented.
“We have suspended admissions to Tranent Care Home until we are satisfied that the required improvements have been made.”
Tranent Care Home apologised for the poor standard of care in the home and said that they were planning to improve standards significantly.
A spokesperson for the home said: “We are very sorry that standards of care at the home fell below what we pride ourselves on, and what our residents and their loved ones deserve.
“Immediately following the inspection we put in place a detailed and robust action plan to improve standards and make sure we provide kind and quality care.
“We are grateful for everyone’s support over the last three months since the inspection, which has helped to bring about improvements at the home.
“We are continuing to work very hard to make sure we keep building on the progress across all areas of care, and we will do everything we can to ensure that we deliver kind and quality care now and in the future.”
“The health, safety, and wellbeing of the people we support is at the heart of everything that we do.”
