Newton House care home under new management amid warnings

Inspectors were not confident that residents were being looked after by “skilled, knowledgeable staff who had their best interests at heart”.

Concerns were raised that residents were not receiving enough food and drink to maintain their health and wellbeing due to the poor management of meals.

Some elderly people were observed sitting in one area for prolonged periods of time leading to concerns their continence needs were not being met and inspectors had to prompt staff in the correct use of PPE throughout their visit on November 25.

Hamberley Care 1 Ltd, which owns the Newton Mearns home, says it operates a relationship focused model of personalised care with ‘homemakers’ rather than traditional care workers.

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However, inspectors said that while there were sufficient numbers of staff, the high proportion of agency workers meant they were not familiar with residents’ needs.

They said: “This did not support attentive, responsive care and we were concerned that many residents were not receiving the level of care they deserved”.

While some families praised the care given by staff, worker shortages and frequent changes was a recurring theme.

One resident told inspectors: “The staff are just ‘wee lassies’ and they don’t know me. Its ok here but there are too many staff changes. I have all my faculties and I can see that staff are really stretched. I don’t like to wait for help.”

The report said workers were not skilled in supporting residents with dementia and while some residents said they “really enjoyed” the activities including cinema, those with cognitive impairment or cared for in their rooms were not said to be experiencing the same level of enjoyment due to a lack of person centred care.

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Newton House was issued with a section 62 notice by the Care Inspectorate in August last year and since then has received a further four, including the last on December 17, for failing to make the required improvements. It has been given until January 31 to meet the latest requirements.

Care homes are issued with section 62 notices where there is a serious breach of regulations or conditions of registration that is leading to “poor outcomes for service users”. 

Failure to meet the requirements within the timescale can result in the Care Inspectorate cancelling the home’s registration.

Newton House re-opened in 2019 after undergoing major refurbishment adding en suite facilities, a cinema, a bar area and a hair and beauty salon with a nail bar.

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The 113-bed home was previously owned and operated by Thistle Healthcare and known as Greenlaw Grove.

A spokesman for the care home provider said it had implemented a significant quality improvement action plan.

He said:  “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our highest priority and so we welcome the scrutiny that comes from the Care Inspectorate.

“In this latest report we were pleased to see the multiple comments from residents and their loved ones regarding our kind, caring and dedicated staff teams.

“Like many care homes across the country, the home has faced challenges in terms of recruitment during the pandemic. However, despite these pressures we can confirm that the home is now under new leadership, and we are busy strengthening our team.

“This detailed action plan has further strengthened the use of our quality assurance systems and protocols. We are also bolstering our training programmes for staff regarding enhanced infection control procedures and clinical skills application.

“We will continue to work closely with the Care Inspectorate and local care home support network to ensure all necessary improvements are made as swiftly as possible and we thank them for their assistance and support.”