Council took 'eye off ball' with care home repairs

Park House care home was found to have not been adequately maintained in recent years

The only care home in the Isles of Scilly needs up to £700,000 of repairs after the council failed to adequately maintain it.

A contractor has now been appointed for the works at Park House on St Mary's.

The Care Quality Commission in February found the home "did not provide a pleasant environment", rating it as Requires Improvement.

The council admitted it had taken its "eye off the ball" and said the report was a "wake-up call".

Issues included damaged furniture, floors, and bathrooms, with heavily stained and threadbare carpets throughout.

Areas of the premises were "no longer adequate to meet the needs of the service", according to the report.

Councillor Joel Williams said the CQC report had been a "wake-up call" for the council

Chief executive of the council Paul Masters said the work would take place "at speed" over the next eight months, and was expected to cost between £500,000 and £700,000.

He said the authority had been focused on working towards developing an integrated care facility to combine health and residential needs in recent years, but the project had not progressed.

"We were chasing the integrated care hub, which is still what we want to do, but we should have made sure the nuts and bolts of Park House were in order.

"We are going to do everything we can to get Park House to be as good as it can be, until we either do or don't hear about the integrated care hub."

In 2017, the home was briefly closed before a campaign to reopen it drew widespread support.

Earlier this year the CQC rated the home as Good in categories of being Safe, Caring and Responsive.

Nine professionals who work with the service provided feedback to the CQC with one telling inspectors "it is a place full of warmth, care and love".

'Put it right at speed'

A plan for the works has been drawn up, with significant repairs needed in every room, meaning residents may need to be moved at times.

Mr Masters said: "We have the hospital at the top of the hill and when we have scheduled works in the past we have moved residents into hotels on the islands.

"So I don't think we will be looking to put residents on the mainland. We would be looking to rehouse them temporarily on-island, but that would be our very last preferred option."

Inspectors also found significant recruitment and staff retention problems.

Councillor Joel Williams, lead member for children, adults and public health, said: "The staff have been phenomenal, but the care home is under staffed.

"We have recruitment and retention complications, we have got housing complications, and we need to find a solution to some of those to really make sure the care home can be sustainable going forward.

"We are now trying to find more housing units so we can recruit more people into the roles, to give staff a little bit more so they aren't working 60-hour weeks and aren't exhausted come the end of the week.

"The CQC report has been a real wake up call to remind the councillors and the officer just how essential having Park House as a care home is. So we are doing all we possibly can at the moment to make sure it does stay sustainable."

Mr Masters said: "I'm very proud of the staff, I'm very proud of the care that they offer in the home, I think the criticisms of us as a council not putting the repairs in place we should have done is fair, and we are going to put it right at speed."

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