Inspectors have raised “serious” concerns about staffing at an Aberdeen care home.
The Care Inspectorate carried out an unannounced visit at Ruthrieston House over four days in June.
They gave the service “weak” gradings in almost all areas, apart from the setting which was found to be “adequate”.
While residents were largely positive about the staff, inspectors identified issues with the “insufficient staff numbers” and said response times to attend calls were “significantly longer” than they should be.
They highlighted occasions where residents became “distressed” and “frustrated” when staff were too busy with other tasks, including a person who had asked to have a lie down.
The reports adds: “Buzzers were going off regularly for extended periods of time and one person was noted to wait 20 minutes to get support in the bathroom and as a result, was distressed.
“This is not reflective of responsive and dignified care.”
VSA, the operators of the care home service, said they were “disappointed” with the outcome of the inspection and are working to address the issues.
Inspectors visit Ruthrieston House in Aberdeen
Ruthrieston House was last inspected in February 2023 when it received a “good” and “very good” grading.
This time, the Care Inspectorate found a lack of staff meant some areas in the home were left unsupervised .
They wrote: “We observed people who were high risk of falls and choking left unattended for extended periods of time.”
Inspectors also raised concerns about the response to incidents and injuries in the home – and how they reportedly failed to identify and report seven Adult Support and Protection concerns.
The report adds: “One person sustained two consecutive head injuries following unwitnessed falls but these were not investigated and the risks were not identified or managed.”
Inspectors said they saw a person sit for six hours without being moved to a more suitable chair, while some people’s teeth looked “dirty and unkempt”.
They also wrote: “We observed that one person did not have a shower or bath recorded for 10 days.”
Improvements to be made
The Care Inspectorate issued a number of improvements for Ruthrieston House to make by July 21.
Sarah Freeth, chief executive of VSA, said: “At VSA our main priority is providing safe and high-quality care to the people we support.
“We take the feedback of the regulator extremely seriously and are very disappointed with the outcome of the latest Care Inspectorate report at Ruthrieston House.
“We have taken immediate action during and immediately after the inspection to action issues identified for improvement by the Care Inspectorate, including putting in place measures to increase shift staffing levels required to support increasingly complex care and support needs of residents.
“We have worked and will continue to work closely with the Care Inspectorate and local authority and there are no outstanding items from outside to be addressed.”
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