A ‘ROBUST action plan’ is being implemented at a Borders-based care service supporting almost 200 older people after a deadline for improvements was extended.

Homecare East is a support service based at Lanark Lodge at Bridgend in Duns.

It provides services in the east of the Borders, including Kelso, Duns, Coldstream and Eyemouth.

At the time of an unannounced Care Inspectorate visit during the second week of February the service, provided by Scottish Borders Council, was providing care and support to 193 older people in their own homes or in the community.

At the time a number of necessary improvements were identified.

Documentation needed to reflect peoples abilities around choice and control.

The provider also needed to implement systems to monitor changes of positioning, to ensure risks around people’s skin integrity were minimised.

Improvements were required with medication processes to ensure accurate, safe and up to date guidance was provided to staff.

The provider was also required to implement improvements to ensure that personal plans were accurate and available to people and staff.

The service was rated ‘adequate’ in three areas – supporting people’s well-being, leadership and the care and support planned and deemed ‘good’ for it staff team.

A deadline for the implementation of the required improvements was set for May 31.

But when inspectors returned for a short notice inspection on June 26 all the required upgrades had not been implemented.

The inspectors found that further improvement was required so people “could be assured their medication was managed in a way which protected their health and well-being”.

Additionally, further improvement was required with quality assurance systems to ensure they are “robust and extensive enough”.

The latest report states: “The medication requirement and the quality assurance requirement time-scales have been extended to November 1, 2024, for the provider to achieve planned improvements.”

In response to the latest report, a spokesperson for Scottish Borders Council said: “Following the outcome of the recent follow up inspection of the Home Care East Service, we can confirm that a full and robust action plan has been developed to address the issues raised by the Care Inspectorate.

“The Adult Social Care senior management team is already working closely with the service on implementing the plan, with ongoing monitoring also in place to ensure that the requirements and areas for improvement are met within the time-frames as agreed with the inspectors.

“It was encouraging to receive acknowledgement from the inspectors on the range of improvements that had either already been made, or were in progress, with the next step being for these to be either expanded upon or embedded more firmly within the service.

“Staff are now taking this advice forward, both as part of the action plan and their wider commitment to taking all the learning they can from the inspection to improve the quality of care and support which their service users receive on an ongoing basis.”