Care home residents in Banff were left “staring into space” with boredom and suffering injuries from regular falls, inspectors found.
Members of the Care Inspectorate watchdog paid a visit to the 56-person facility in January, and have now graded its level of care and support amid the pandemic as “weak”.
The score for Banff Care Home is the equivalent of two marks out of six, and the Care Inspectorate has imposed requirements which must be met by the end of the month.
Inspectors found there were many “warm, supportive and respectful” interactions between staff and residents, but also identified “significant” weaknesses.
This included a lack of availability when people needed help with tasks such as getting dressed or going to the bathroom.
The Care Inspectorate found a “high number” of falls reported, with some causing significant injuries.
“Although risk assessments were in place, some of the information was incorrect and out-of-date,” inspectors noted.
They found “missed opportunities” for learning from previous incidents and saw some safety measures were not the “least restrictive” options.
Residents had “few opportunities to get the most out of life” as they were spending more time in their bedrooms to physically distance from others.
The report said: “Staff recognised they did not have enough time to spend individually with people.
“This meant people spent most of the day by themselves, watching TV or staring into space.”
Banff Care Home has the capacity to care for up to 10 adults with a learning disability, but inspectors said more could be done to help people in distress.
“This was highlighted as an area for improvement at the previous inspection, but we found minimal action had been taken to address this,” inspectors said.
“At times this meant people were harming each other or harming staff.
“Some staff had identified triggers that upset people. Yet, these were not detailed in the care plans and other staff were unaware of them, so distress was not avoided.”
Inspectors say the facility needs to provide better support residents at risk of falls, maintain staffing levels to better meet residents’ needs, and arrange “meaningful” activities for those living there.
Livingston Care, which operates Banff Care Home, was contacted for comment.
