A council-owned care home, which was told to ensure 21 residents had access to more than one bathroom, has been slammed by inspectors for making no progress in six months.
Faithlie Care Home was visited unannounced by the Care Inspectorate in February and the authorities said it was “extremely disappointing” to find measures designed to improve the quality of life for residents had been ignored.
The Lockpots Road facility is a purpose-built, two-storey property for older people, split into four wings and capable of holding 35 people with one place for respite care.
At the time of inspection, there were 34 people living in the Aberdeenshire Council-provided service.
During a visit in March last year, inspectors ruled there were “insufficient bathrooms”, because there were 21 residents on the first floor and only one bathroom.
When the institute was then visited by inspectors in September, the facility received good and very good ratings on all aspects other than the lack of toilet provision which was only awarded an adequate grade.
The service was required, in a report subsequently released, to “ensure there are sufficient shower and bath facilities in the service to meet the needs of service users by February 1, 2019”.
However, upon returning to Faithlie this February, the inspectorate released a report which highlighted the continuing problem.
>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter
They stated: “It was disappointing the provider had made no progress with ensuring there were sufficient bathing and showering facilities on the first floor of the care home.
“There was only one bathing/wetroom available for the 21 residents living upstairs.
“This remained insufficient.”
The report added: “This is not respectful or dignified due to [residents] having to walk through public areas in night clothes to access alternative facilities.
“The lack of showering and bathing facilities on the first floor continued to have a negative impact on the welfare and dignity of residents residing on that floor.”
Care notes for at least two of the upstairs residents highlighted they had not had “sufficient” showers or baths over several months.
The inspectors found the Property and Facilities Management team had not deemed the matter important enough to take remedial action.
Mark Simpson, the partnership manager for the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “There is a programme of building improvement works currently underway across our care homes and the improvements to the bathrooms at Faithlie Care Home are due to be completed soon.”
The Care Inspectorate has updated the requirement asking for an action plan to be followed.
