Care home under investigation after after residents 'hospitalised'

A care home is under investigation amid claims serious failures led to elderly people being hospitalised.

Some residents at Golfhill Nursing Home, Glasgow, required hospital treatment for gangrene, according to a report in The Herald.

The Care Inspectorate said concerns about the home were raised after an October inspection and there has been "insufficient improvement" since then.

Operator Advinia confirmed a "large scale investigation" is under way.

The problems are reported to centre on the intermediate care unit, where elderly residents are transferred after being discharged from hospital.

They normally spend about a month there before being sent home or into long-term care.

A whistleblower told The Herald that the unit, which is in Dennistoun in the city's east end, has been short staffed "almost on a daily basis" as employees were being transferred to other areas of the home.

As well as the gangrene claims the paper reports other residents have required hospital treatment for dehydration.

'Continuing concerns'

A Care Inspectorate spokeswoman confirmed an inspection in October raised concerns about the quality of care experienced by people and identified five areas for improvement.

She said: "A follow up inspection was recently carried out and we found the service had made insufficient improvement on the concerns identified.

"Due to our continuing concerns we have now issued an improvement notice which lists the improvements we must see.

"If we are not satisfied that swift and sustained improvement is made in the quality of care experienced by residents we will not hesitate to take further action."

The spokeswoman acknowledged this is a "really worrying time" for residents and their loved ones.

She added: "We are monitoring this service closely."

'Cooperating fully'

A spokesman for Golfhill care home said the safety and wellbeing of residents was its highest priority.

He added: "Like many care homes across the country, the home has faced challenges in terms of recruitment during the pandemic.

"We can confirm that the home is currently the subject of a large scale investigation and we are cooperating fully with that process to ensure that the home meets all regulatory standards.

"Our dedicated and compassionate care teams have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic to provide quality care for the residents, and they will continue to do so in the months ahead."

In the meantime the home confirmed it is working closely with the local Health and Social Care Partnership, Health Protection Scotland and the Care Inspectorate.

In April a report by the Crown Office revealed Golfhill recorded 11 deaths related to Covid. during the first year of the pandemic.