EK care home failings uncovered

Aug 12 2009 by Graham Mann, East Kilbride News

AN EAST Kilbride nursing home has been warned it could face closure if its standards of care for its elderly patients do not improve.

Managers and staff at the privately owned Abbey Lodge have been told they must do better after a recent Care Commission inspection uncovered significant failings.

This is the second elderly care scandal to hit the town this year.

South Lanarkshire Council launched an investigation in April after the BBC exposed shocking failures in home care services by companies it employed.

The News learned about the ongoing problems at Abbey Lodge after a Whitehills woman contacted us to express concerns about the standards of care. Carol Queen removed her father, Robert Halliday, 77, from Abbey Lodge in April this year saying she lost faith in their practices and procedures.

Carol’s complaints included claims that her father was left for days on end without being washed and had to sleep in dirty bed clothes stained with faeces.

She wrote a letter of complaint to the Mossneuk home stating a long list of reasons why she decided to remove her elderly father after a stay of two years.

But she did not receive a reply until another lady, from Cambuslang, who had also made complaints about the home, got in touch to say she had received a confidential letter detailing Robert’s personal circumstances.

The upshot of the administrative cock-up was that rather than allaying Carol’s fears, it actually reinforced her belief that their procedures were not up to scratch.

Carol, of Braidley Crescent, said: “It’s bad enough that I felt the need to remove my dad in the first place but when I found out they had sent his personal details to the wrong address I was furious. The list of complaints I sent was as long as my arm but rather than addressing my concerns they have now made the list even longer.”

When the News told the Care Commission about Carol’s experience they revealed she was not the only person to have raised concerns.

Last year an inspection by the commission raised “significant concerns” about Abbey Lodge.

And although Henry Mathias, the Care Commission’s South West regional manager, acknowledged there has been an improvement since the 2008 inspection, he said the commission would take “enforcement action” if the situation does not get better.

He said: “The Care Commission has had significant concerns about the standards of care provided by Abbey Lodge care home.

“The October 2008 inspection found that the home's performance was weak in relation to the quality of care and support, environment, staffing and management and leadership. However, since this inspection the standards of care have improved.

“For example, the March 2009 inspection found that the home's performance was adequate for the quality of care and support, staffing and management and leadership. The quality of the environment, on the other hand, remained graded as weak.

“While some improvements to the quality of the environment have been made, further changes are needed before the Care Commission is satisfied with this aspect of the service.

“We will continue to work with the provider of this home to make improvements. At the same time, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action if these improvements do not continue."

A spokesman for Abbey Lodge said: "Abbey Lodge fully endorses the statement made by the Care Commission and continues to work closely with them, striving to continually improve services in the home.

“The Care Commission are currently satisfied with the current level of care delivered at Abbey Lodge."

Meanwhile, SLC’s investigation into its home care services is continuing.