One in ten Scottish care homes providing unsatisfactory care
New figures published this week have revealed that one in ten Scottish care homes are providing care that is either weak or a unsatisfactory.
The figures, obtained by the Labour Party following a Freedom of Information request, showed that of the 880 nursing homes in Scotland, not all were meeting the high standards they should be. 67 care homes were found to be delivering a weak service, whilst 11 were unsatisfactory, which is the very worst level of service.
Whilst a number of problems were uncovered by care inspectors, including inadequate care training for staff, the main issue was “quality of care and support”.
The release of these statistics has prompted calls from ministers for the government to take immediate action to improve care home standards. Jackie Baillie MSP, who is the health spokesperson for Scottish Labour, said:
“These deeply worrying figures should be an urgent wake-up call to the SNP government.”
The report produced some good news for the Scottish health and social care sector, however, as 44 out of the 880 homes were rated as “excellent”. The majority of care facilities were ranked as being either “good” or “very good”.