Inspectors have raised serious concerns about the way staff at a Nairn care home manage residents’ medication.
The Care Inspectorate visited Manor Care Centre in May, and were alarmed after seeing one staff member give the same medication to the same patient twice.
During the unannounced visit, inspectors found “many errors” when they sampled medication distribution, discovering patients had been given more or less of their required prescription on a number of occasions.
They ruled the administration of medication was not being done safely, and graded the home as weak for its support of resident wellbeing and leadership.
Inspectors also said they were not “confident people’s pain was being managed effectively”.
In a report, inspectors said staff at the 43-bed Cawdor Road home appeared rushed, and focused most of their time on task-orientated care and support.
Health and well-being ‘at risk of harm’
They also raised concerns about the time taken to implement improvements.
The report states: “Improvements were not happening in a timely manner, nor consistently across the service.
“Audits of medication had identified several areas for improvement, dating as far back as December 2022. We found that the necessary improvements had not been made.
“This meant people’s health and well-being was at risk of harm because medication administration had not been safe.
“We made several requirements and areas for improvements at previous inspections. Many of those have not been met within the required timescales.
“We raised our concerns at feedback about the services capacity to improve. All of these factors combined indicate there is insufficient capacity and skill to support improvements effectively and to embed changes in practice.”
“The pace of change had been too slow, with improvements not being made in some areas.”
The Care Inspectorate has put a number of improvement requirements in place.
‘Safety and well-being is a priority’
A spokeswoman for Manor Care Centre said: “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our utmost priority so, understandably, we are disappointed that standards have not been maintained.
“We are working hard to ensure that the sustainable changes which have already begun are embedded in the service as soon as possible.
“We have immediately implemented an action plan and we are working closely with the Health and Social Care Partnership, local multi-disciplinary partners, and our existing team on the standards of care and resident outcomes.
“We have had regular and transparent contact with residents, staff and families to reassure them that our colleagues remain focused on ensuring everyone at Manor Care Centre receives the highest standards of personalised, quality care and support.””
