A Dundee nursing home has been warned it could be shut down after scathing criticism of its end-of-life care.
Benvie Care Home has been given urgent deadlines to make a series of improvements after inspectors found a litany of issues during a visit in June.
This included staff failing to deal with residents’ pain which had a “significant, detrimental impact on people’s wellbeing and quality of life”.
There were also occasions where residents were “not recognised as having a palliative condition”.
The family-run home was initially set target improvement dates for July but these have been pushed back to this Sunday (August 11).
If four requirements for improvement are not met, the Care Inspectorate says it will move to cancel the home’s registration.
Benvie Care Home inspection found dehydrated residents and pain ‘not being recognised’
During the June visit, inspectors found residents becoming dehydrated and not receiving proper medication, wounds not being properly cared for, pain not being recognised and residents not having the right end-of-life care and support to meet their spiritual, physical and psychological needs.
The Care Inspectorate visited the home, which cares for older people, on June 19 and 20.
Inspectors were so concerned about the end-of-life care on offer that it gave Benvie just 72 hours to rectify the situation.
But when officials returned on June 23, palliative and end-of-life care “was not yet at an adequate standard”.
An improvement notice was then issued to the home’s owner, Duncare Ltd, setting deadlines in July and August to make changes.
Some of the deadlines were extended, however, with the home now required to meet all four improvements by this Sunday or face potential closure.
Improvements required by Benvie Care Home before Sunday deadline
By August 11, Benvie Care Home must:
- Ensure that service users experience compassionate palliative and end-of-life care that meets their health, safety, and wellbeing needs. This includes staff being able to identify, and respond to, a resident in pain or distress.
- Ensure that service users are provided with regular fluids and support to drink in accordance with their hydration needs and preferences.
- Ensure that there are, at all times, adequate numbers of skilled and competent staff on each shift, to meet service users’ health, safety and wellbeing needs.
- Ensure that the care service is led and managed in a manner that results in service users’ health, safety and wellbeing needs being met.
The letter states: “If there is no significant improvement within the revised timescale, we intend to make a proposal to cancel your registration.”
The watchdog says it has made Dundee City Council aware of the situation.
A spokesperson for Benvie Care Home said: “We are extremely disappointed by the recent report from the Care Inspectorate and have taken immediate action to develop a robust implementation plan to meet all requirements set out within the report.
“We have a highly experienced management team on site with a clear vision for the home and we are confident that we can achieve this.”
The Courier has created a tracker that makes it easier to compare and analyse care home performance in Dundee and elsewhere in Scotland.
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