The under-fire home care service in West Dunbartonshire has been criticised in a scathing report by inspectors. The unannounced inspection from the Care Inspectorate of the West Dunbartonshire Home Care Service took place between June 8 and 12, with the report's findings published last week.
Service rated 'weak' across four criteria
The inspectors rated the home care service, which has been controversially redesigned, as 'weak' – grading it two out of six – across four key criteria. The criteria are: the support to people's wellbeing; the quality of leadership; staff quality; and how well care and support is planned within the service. It follows a long-running dispute over changes to the rotas of home care staff, which unions claimed could sabotage standards.
The authors of the report say: “The service was going through a period of change which included a service redesign and updating medication policy and procedures. Recruitment was underway in efforts to fill all staff vacancies. The management recognised that the size of the service with existing structures was impacting effective oversight and were committed to addressing this. The service had not met requirements and areas for improvement from previous inspections. Whilst improvements had been made, there was not sufficient progress to meet these. The provider needed to ensure all staff, including agency workers, have access to accurate and up-to-date personal plan information for the people they support. The service must establish regular, meaningful supervision for all staff and incorporate competency checks into quality assurance processes.”
Union says findings should ring alarm bells
Union GMB said the findings should ring alarm bells for every local councillor. AnnMarie Carrigan, GMB organiser in West Dunbartonshire, said: “This was a surprise inspection but it is absolutely no surprise that inspectors found a damaged and demoralised service that has been redesigned into the ground. The refusal of management to listen to the concerns of their dedicated staff before forcing through these changes has dismayed our members and failed the people they care for. This inspectors' report and the management decisions that have led to it should be ringing alarm bells for every elected politician representing the communities of West Dunbartonshire. It is beyond time for the senior leadership of West Dunbartonshire Council to start listening more to our members and less to their managers.”
The union said many of the failures in the service found by inspectors can be directly linked to the changes in shift patterns forced through by management despite many staff warning the new rotas were unworkable. Months of talks have failed to ease the concerns of staff and GMB members have overwhelmingly backed industrial action in a consultative ballot. The union said 73 per cent of the care workers voted in the ballot with 92 per cent backing industrial action up to and including strikes.
Carrigan said: “Our members have been dismayed and demoralised by the repeated refusal to address their concerns effectively. They have given managers every possible chance to ease the damage done by these rota changes, to them and the people they care for, but have been pushed to the brink of industrial action. It is beyond time for action to protect this crucial service built on the skill, commitment and experience of our members.”
Council responds to inspection findings
In a letter to staff seen by the Lennox, Fiona Taylor, head of health and community care at WDC, labels the outcome of the Care Inspectorate report as “deeply disappointing” and said it had recognised the service had faced “significant challenges” over the redesign, recruitment and improvement work. It reads: “The grades received are not where we want to be and they do not reflect our ambitions for the people we support. As a management team, we are committed to making the changes required and ensuring that improvements are embedded and sustained. Work has been ongoing to address the areas where improvements are needed.”
The findings come as the home care service undergoes a controversial redesign, with care workers represented by the GMB union set to head on strike over the impact of the plans. The home care staff have been engaged with bosses from West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) over the changes to their working timetables, which unions claim carry the potential of “sabotaging standards” and have a major impact on the family life of those in the service. Among the change will see 80 shift patterns cut down to four, which many carers believe would lead to a reduction of hours overall.
A two-week consultative ballot of the GMB carers saw 73 per cent of the care workers represented by the union voting – and 92 per cent of them backing industrial action up to and including strikes. A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council stressed staffing and the service redesign were not included in the requirements laid out by inspectors and a recruitment exercise carried out for the service had seen an additional 18 home carers undergo training. The spokeswoman said: “We are deeply disappointed by the outcome of this inspection and will continue to work closely with the Care Inspectorate to fully address the findings. Significant work is ongoing to enhance our Home Care Service and our focus remains on embedding the robust improvements identified to enhance the consistency of care provided. We remain grateful to our dedicated carers who continue to provide a vital service to our residents every day.”
