Watchdog tells Livingston care home to make 'urgent improvements' by December

A Livingston care home for older people has been given until a month to make urgent improvements as they are not operating in accordance with regulations.

There were seven points for improvement in the notice (Pic: Google Maps)

The Care Inspectorate served a formal improvement notice on Livingston Nursing Home, which is run by Four Seasons Health Care following an inspection which raised serious concerns.

The notice lists seven areas which require urgent improvement.

These include putting in place consistent, good quality and effective management and leadership to guide and direct staff working across the service and improve the quality of care being delivered.

And they must record any accidents appropriately and ensure that appropriate authorities, including the Care Inspectorate, are notified.

The improvement notice also reads: “Residents must consistently receive care and support to ensure that their personal hygiene needs are met.

“This must include assistance to bathe and/or shower regularly, taking account of the resident’s need and wishes. This must also include assistance with a resident’s oral care, ensuring that their teeth are brushed twice daily and that their needs and wishes are taken into account.”

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “The quality of care experienced by residents at this home is not good enough to meet individual needs.

“The Improvement Notice we have issued clearly lays out the improvements we must see so that the care experienced by residents improves quickly.

“We will visit this care home again soon to check on progress and if we are not satisfied that the matters raised are being addressed urgently we will not hesitate to take further action.

“Everyone in Scotland has the right to safe, compassionate care which meets their needs and respects their rights.

“Anyone with a concern can contact our helpline on 0345 600 9527.”

Charity Age Scotland said it is "deeply concerned" over the care home's shortcomings and highlighted their failure to meet residents’ personal hygiene needs, such as bathing and showering regularly and having teeth brushed twice a day.

Brian Sloan, chief executive of Age Scotland, said: “It’s deeply concerning that a care home is failing to meet residents’ basic hygiene needs and ensure their safety. Every older person deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, and to receive appropriate, compassionate care.

“We know the care sector is under a lot of strain, but there’s no excuse for poor quality care. We hope that Livingston Care Home is urgently addressing these shortcomings and putting in place an improvement plan.”

A spokesperson for Four Seasons Health Care said: "We regret that Livingston Care Home has fallen below the high standards that we expect and that the Care Inspectorate requires.

"We take our responsibilities as a care provider seriously and have thoroughly reviewed the findings from the last inspection.

"We understand the areas in which we must urgently improve and have been implementing a comprehensive action plan to ensure changes are made.

"The delivery of this plan is being managed by senior colleagues who have specialist expertise in improving the quality and experience of care and we remain committed to reaching a higher standard as soon as is feasible."