The Care Inspectorate who are responsible for registering and inspecting care homes in Scotland have given a Midlothian care home notice that it must make urgent changes following an unannounced visit.
An inspection at Drummond Grange Nursing Home in Lasswade, carried out in December last year and published now, found several concerns remained after they were initially raised in August.
The Care Inspectorate has informed the service of six immediate requirements for improvement in its most recent report.
A spokesman for the watchdog said: -“We raised serious concerns about the quality of care being provided at this service in August last year.
“At the time we graded the quality of care as ‘weak’. Our most recent follow-up inspection found that the quality of care provided has deteriorated to ‘unsatisfactory,’ the lowest grade we can give.
“We have informed the service of what it needs to do to ensure that immediate improvements are made.
“Everyone in Scotland has the right to safe, compassionate care which meets their needs and respects their rights.
“We continue to work with the service to ensure they improve, but if we do not see evidence of urgent improvements we will not hesitate to take further action.”
The service has been told it must improve staffing; the management of epilepsy; ensuring equipment is checked and faults reported with remedial action taken; ensuring residents’ physical, social and emotional needs are met; ensuring staff are competent in communicating with residents; and that staff are aware of and adhere to professional codes.
In the past year, the Care Inspectorate received 3,172 complaints about care, a rise of 28.2% compared to the 2,475 received by its predecessor body in 2008/9.
The Care Inspectorate says the rise in complaints shows more people are able to raise concerns and know how to do so.
The watchdog stressed that while complaints have risen, the number of services found to be performing well was also on the rise.
In February the Inspectorate issued its report on Pentland Hill Nursing Home in Edinburgh.
The Care Inspectorate uncovered serious concerns about the home during a routine, unannounced inspection last year, and warned the home that it faced imminent closure unless standards were improved.
The latest report relates to an unannounced inspection undertaken on 20 December 2013 by a team of eight specialists, including care inspectors and professional advisers in nutrition, tissue viability and pharmacy.
The latest report notes that, while the team found some improvements, more work is needed to make them consistent and sustained and ensure residents enjoy a good quality of life.
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