Kilmarnock housing service visited by the Care Inspectorate

East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership's Care at Home and Housing Support Service was visited by the Care Inspectorate across several days between September 24 and October 2.

The unannounced inspection found that staffing shortages significantly impacted the continuity and quality of care.

The service supports 512 adults and older people in their own homes in Kilmarnock and surrounding rural areas.

However, the inspectors found issues with staffing, care plans, medication management, and leadership.

Despite observing that staff members were generally kind and respectful, the inspectors noted that staffing shortages led to inconsistent care and communication issues with the families of those receiving care.

The inspectors also said that personal care plans often did not accurately reflect the support needed or provided, leading to a lack of tailored care.

Concerns were raised about the management of medication, with a lack of oversight and audits potentially compromising the wellbeing of those receiving care.

The leadership of the service was described as 'adequate', but the quality assurance and improvement processes were not robust enough, leading to reactive crisis management rather than proactive improvement.

The inspectors rated the service's support for people's wellbeing as adequate, with staffing shortages causing anxiety and concern for many supported individuals due to inconsistent visits and poor communication about changes in visits.

The inspectors said that important aspects, such as recognising changes in health and accessing other healthcare professionals, were sometimes missed due to the frequent change in carers.

Leadership was also rated as adequate, with a lack of spot checks and audits due to time constraints leading to slow improvements.

The impact on people's outcomes had worsened since the last inspection, and staff members were working under extreme pressure, reporting feeling exhausted and unsupported.

The inspectors noted that many staff had not received training in critical areas such as dementia care, diabetes, and stress management, affecting their ability to meet the specific needs of service users.

Care planning was rated as adequate, with personal plans often basic and not consistently updated to reflect the current care and support needs of individuals.

There was limited involvement of service users in their care planning, which meant care was not always aligned with their preferences or wishes.

A spokesperson for East Ayrshire Council said: “East Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership values the feedback from the Care Inspectorate which we are using to support improvements in the quality of our service. 

"We recognise that the service is in a transition period and needs to improve in a number of areas.  We have already reviewed our current structures, processes and electronic scheduling system, and have invested in a significant transformational change programme which will yield positive improvements in the coming months. 

"We know that the workload pressures are not sustainable, and are taking steps to reduce these since the inspection by working collaboratively across a range of partners. We are implementing a range of measures to support the workforce to achieve all mandatory training with robust assurance processes in place, and delivering consistent visits and times to support good outcomes for people.

"We will continue to work with Care Inspectors, the workforce, People & Culture and Trades Union colleagues to support the delivery of high quality care for the residents of East Ayrshire by a valued and skilled workforce.”