Pentland Hill nursing home in Edinburgh severely criticised

The home in Gylemuir Road has been reviewed by care inspectors

A nursing home in Edinburgh has been severely criticised by the social care watchdog for its poor quality of care.

Pentland Hill nursing home in Corstorphine was reviewed by the Care Inspectorate following a significant number of complaints within the past year.

New admissions to the home, run by Bupa, have been suspended until improvements are made.

Police are investigating the death of a 67-year-old resident last month.

The social care watchdog has now issued the nursing home with a formal improvement notice.

It carried out an unannounced review in July after upholding three complaints from families of residents in the past year.

Inspectors found issues with the quality of care and with the management of the home in Gylemuir Road.

A Care Inspectorate spokesman, said: "We have serious concerns about the quality of care and management in this home and have issued a formal improvement notice.

"This requires urgent changes to be made to bring the home up to scratch, and we are working closely with the provider to make that happen.

"Everyone using a care home has the right to care that reflects their needs and promotes their rights and if that does not happen, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action."

The spokesman added: "New residents should not be admitted to this home until improvements are made, and the provider has voluntarily agreed to this.

"We continue to liaise with the local authority and the police about some specific incidents."

Action plan

Kirsty Dace, Bupa Care Homes' Scotland area director, said: "The health and wellbeing of our residents is our absolute priority and we are working closely with the local authority and the Care Inspectorate to address the issues raised.

"We are meeting with our residents, relatives and staff to keep them fully informed of progress of our action plan."

A Scottish government spokesman said: "We want to ensure that all older people receive quality and compassionate care that protects their dignity and independence on every occasion, in any care setting, and we consider improving care for older people to be a priority.

"The Care Inspectorate have now issued the service with an improvement notice and will work with the provider to support them make the necessary improvements.

"If improvements are not made following the issue of an improvement notice the Care Inspectorate can move to cancel registration."