AN IMPROVEMENT notice for a Wallyford nursing home which received a damning report from care bosses has been extended to allow further work to be done.

The Courier reported last month that residents at Drummohr Nursing Home suffered “significant” weight loss over one month due to a lack of oversight and management of food and fluid intake.

The Care Inspectorate report revealed that 19 residents lost weight in March, with inspectors reporting some meals going cold and other residents eating nothing, while one resident was observed walking around taking other residents’ meals and drinks.

Five of those who lost weight suffered a “significant loss”, according to the report after officers visited the home during an unannounced three-day inspection in May.

A Care Inspectorate spokesperson said: “The Care Inspectorate issued an initial improvement notice to Drummohr care home in East Lothian on May 29.

“A follow-up inspection to assess progress made by the provider HC-One has now been concluded.

“We found that a significant amount of work had been undertaken by the service to improve.

“However, there remains work to do in order for these improvements to be embedded fully into practice and sustained.

Careful consideration

“After careful consideration, we decided to extend the timescales of the improvement notice for a further six weeks, for the improvement work to progress and be sustained.

“We issued an updated improvement notice on July 24 and we are planning to carry out monitoring visits.

“We will publish an inspection report in due course.”

A spokesperson for HC-One said: “The health and wellbeing of our residents is our highest priority and we take all feedback from the Care Inspectorate extremely seriously.

“We are encouraged that the Care Inspectorate’s decision to extend the deadline for meeting necessary improvement acknowledges we are making meaningful progress with the regulator and that all the relatives they spoke to think residents are ‘well looked-after’ by ‘kind and caring’ staff. We are working hard to address the problems raised and, with the leadership of the new home manager and the support of the wider management team, improvements such as a ‘more pleasant environment’ and ‘better outcomes for residents’ have been noted by inspectors. Other external partners have noted ‘sustained’ improvements too.

“We are confident that when the Care Inspectorate return at the end of the month that they will be impressed by the further improved standards at the care home.”

An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “The East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership continues to work with both the Care Inspectorate and Drummohr to ensure required improvements continue to be made in line with recommendations.”