EXCLUSIVE: Admissions Ban On Failing East Lothian Care Home

1 September 2016, 15:41

Heart can exclusviely reveal a failing care home in East Lothian has been banned from taking in new residents.

Tranent Care Home in East Lothian has been branded one of Scotland's poorest performing care homes.

It was ordered to make improvements after inspectors uncovered major failings.

The HC-One unit was labelled unsatisfactory and weak in every area following a recent visit.

It found residents were being ignored when they screamed for help, many had multiple bruises and ate with their hands because cutlery was filthy.

Tranent care home looks after 60 elderly people who suffer from dementia.

The private firm says it prides itself on having "safe, high quality and professional" care homes.

Inspectors found major failings ranging from disgusting levels of cleanliness and staff who were over run and didn't have training that met national guidelines.

Gordon Craig's mum lives in the unit. He has been speaking exclusively to our reporter Connor Gillies:

HC-One refused to do an interview with us saying chiefs were "too busy".

Care bosses sent us a short statement saying they were "very sorry".

The level of care in Tranent Care has been sliding since 2012, according to Care Inspectorate data.

A spokesperson for the home said: "We are very sorry that standards of care at the home fell below what we pride ourselves on, and what our Residents and their loved ones deserve.

"Immediately following the inspection we put in place a detailed and robust action plan to improve standards and make sure we provide kind and quality care. Our senior management team are working closely with staff at the home, as well as the Care Inspectorate and Local Authority.

"We are grateful for everyone's support over the last three months since the inspection, which has helped to bring about improvements at the home.

"We are continuing to work very hard to make sure we keep building on the progress across all areas of care, and we will do everything we can to ensure that we deliver kind and quality care now and in the future."

"The health, safety, and wellbeing of the people we support is at the heart of everything that we do."

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: "Our most recent inspection raised serious concerns about the quality of care provided at Tranent Care Home and our inspection report has clearly laid out areas which require swift improvement.

"We will inspect this service again soon to check on progress and if we are not satisfied with the progress made we will not hesitate to take further action.

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

A spokesperson for East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership said:

“We can confirm that we placed an embargo on admissions to Tranent Care Home until we are satisfied that the required improvements have been made.

“Since the inspection took place in May we have been working closely with HC-One to put in place a comprehensive Action Plan to address the Care Inspectorate’s feedback. We are continuing to monitor the progress of the plan with HC-One and other partners, and put in place measures to make sure the improvements that have been made are sustained. Some progress has been made since the inspection three months ago.

“We have already communicated with, and met, relatives and with HC-One we are hosting another meeting for relatives next week to help answer their questions and concerns. We will continue to work with HC-One until Care Inspectorate recommendations for change are fully implemented.”

Do you have concerns about a care home? Contact connor.gillies@thisisglobal.com