Inspection into NHS Highland’s Sutherland Care at Home service sparks ‘serious concerns’ on quality of care
“Serious concerns” over the quality of care delivered by Golspie-based Sutherland Care at Home Service have been raised by the Care Inspectorate,
An improvement notice was issued to the service, which is run by NHS Highland, which could see its registration cancelled if it fails to meet the requirements set out by May 2025.
Although the full inspection report is yet to be published, the improvements required include that “service users experience safe and compassionate care and treatment that meets their health, safety and wellbeing needs”, “ensure you keep people safe and healthy by ensuring medication is handled and administered correctly” and to “ensure that there is effective governance at service level to monitor and manage quality of care” (the full improvement notice is available here).
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “An inspection has identified serious and significant concerns about the quality of care experienced by service users of Sutherland Care at Home Service in Highland.
“We understand this is a difficult and distressing time for service users, their families and staff at the service.
“However, our first priority is always the health and wellbeing of service users.
“Because of our concerns we have issued an Improvement Notice to the service. This sets out the significant improvements that must be made within a specified timeframe.
“We are in contact with and monitoring the service to follow up on the required improvements.”
In response to the statement, a NHS Highland spokesperson said: “A planned Care Inspectorate inspection of NHS Highland’s Care at Home Service in Sutherland has highlighted a number of areas for improvement within the service.
“An Improvement Notice has been issued to the service and we will work closely with staff to put actions in place as soon as we can.
“A further statement will be issued this week once we have spoken with the service users.”
