£8.5m Musselburgh care home risked being struck off after complaints

An £8.5m nursing home which faced being struck off the care register after complaints about staffing levels and a lack of healthcare were upheld has been given more time to improve – despite only meeting one of six requirements.

Care inspectors visited Harbour House Care Home, which opened in Musselburgh two years ago, to investigate three complaints about its service in January and upheld them all.

In February, a return visit to the home saw inspectors issue a letter of serious concern after they discovered residents did not have “adequate access to fluids”.

Two letters were issued to the home in February and again in March extending the deadline to meet requirements, warning that unless improvements were made the Care Inspectorate would “make a proposal to cancel its registration”.

Operators of the home Morar Living said it is working with the Care Inspectorate on a detailed action plan for the home.

East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership (ELHSCP), which has placed 19 residents in the home, said it was also working with the home to improve services.

Six requirements issued by the Care Inspectorate included having sufficient numbers and skill mix of staff to support people’s needs safely; ensure residents had access to and can use the call bell system to summon assistance; residents have up-to-date care and support plans; appropriate meals, snacks, and drinks were available and residents supported in eating them; effective support for people with continence care and the service is managed in a manner that results in service users needs being met.

A Care Inspectorate report into the home released last week graded its services as “weak” across the board.

It said some residents with continence issues were receiving only a weekly shower or bath and needed more encouragement to “get out of bed”.

However, it noted one requirement had been met noting: “Call bell response times were improved, being answered within a couple of minutes at the latest.

“This meant people were responded to promptly when they asked for help. People that could not operate the call bell system were receiving regular welfare checks.”

The report revealed that the section 62 letter warning of cancellation action had been given an extended time line into this month for more improvements to take place.

A spokesperson for Morar Living said: “The company had taken action prior to the care inspectorate involvement and have been working through a detailed action plan with the care inspectorate for a number of weeks now.

“We are confident that this collaboration and new management structure within the service will result in improved grades in the near future.

“The issues raised have been addressed and we continue to make improvements to the service in line with requirements.”

A spokesperson for ELHSCP said: “We are actively supporting the provider to address the areas identified for improvement.

“ELHSCP have been involved in the placement of 19 of the current residents and is working closely with the provider to ensure that all residents receive the high quality support that they require. ”