Two care homes have come under attack from watchdogs for putting their residents “at risk”.
Damning reports have unearthed a catalogue of failings at two homes operated by care provider Meallmore, which has properties across the north-east and the Highlands.
The Grove Care Home at Kemnay and Sunnybank at Cruden Bay near Peterhead have been ordered by inspectors to make improvement immediately.
It comes just a day after the Press and Journal revealed major failings at another Meallmore-run home, St Modans at Fraserburgh.
The Care Inspectorate discovered that residents were drugged needlessly and left in filthy conditions – and staff even ripped off vulnerable people by making a profit on selling them basic toiletries.
Last night, after the P&J made inquiries about failings at the Grove, the report was removed from the Inspectorate website.
A spokesman for the Inspectorate said: “The provider has given us additional information which we are assessing before we publish a final report.”
The home underwent a “high intensity” inspection in March, where inspectors handed out the lowest possible grades for several aspects of care.
They ruled that there was insufficient staff to meet the needs of the residents and that a severe lack of training was putting people “at risk”.
Staff admitted that people had fallen over because there was no one around to watch them.
The inspectors also discovered that some residents were not being fed properly, with 13 out of 22 experiencing recent weight loss.
“We found a highly dependent service user who had been left to eat on a chair in their room unaided,” the report said.
“The tray which held the service user’s meal had slipped and their meal had fallen over them.”
Inspectors found staff were making errors when recording medication and that some members of the team had not even been given an induction.
They did point out that staff who they spoke to had a “genuine desire” to do their best for the residents – but that they were too many concerns to ignore.
The inspection will now come under additional review following a request by the company.
“The Care Inspectorate has removed the recent Grove Care Home inspection report from their website pending further review,” a Meallmore spokeswoman said.
“In the meantime, staff are focusing on delivering improvements as quickly as possible.”