Fife care home given scathing review after unannounced visit

The review, part of the fortnightly report to the Scottish Parliament on Care Inspectorate inspections, gave Woodside Court Care Home ‘weak’ verdicts.

For the question, ‘how good is our care and support during the Covid-19 pandemic?’, the report stated ‘weak’. The care home was also given ‘weak’ verdicts for its people’s health and wellbeing, infection prevention and control practices, and staffing arrangements.

An unannounced visit on January 26 raised serious concerns.

The report stated: “We identified significant concerns relating to the cleanliness of the environment, management of clinical waste, staff failing to adhere to safe infection control practices and a lack of meaningful interaction and activity.

"We issued a serious concern letter to the provider on 26 January. We visited the home on 29 January to follow up on the serious concerns. We saw positive improvements in the overall cleanliness of the environment, however, we were not confident about the ability of the service to sustain a consistent attention to safe practice.

“Staff had received training and were knowledgeable about Covid-19 and infection prevention and control. This did not always impact upon their practice in relation to keeping the environment and equipment clean. Further work was needed to improve staff awareness of their roles and responsibility in implementing safe and effective infection control measures.

“Systems were in place to support people to stay both physically and mentally well. Further work was needed to support staff in implementing these and make them meaningful to people.”

The care home, which is registered to look after 60 residents, is operated by HC-One Limited.