Wednesday December 6th 2023
1st Choice based in Teviot Crescent, Hawick.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Urgent action needs to be taken by a Hawick-based housing support service to ensure its medication processes are safe.
Support Services 1st Choice, based in Teviot Crescent, supports 88 people with care and support needs in their own home and in the community, including Hawick, Denholm, Selkirk, Galshiels and Roberton.
On November 3rd three representatives of the Care Inspectorate paid an unannounced visit to the service.
The subsequent report concluded that staff were “kind and treated people with respect and kindness” and that improvements had been made around medication processes.
However, it was deemed that some strengths were “compromised by significant weaknesses”, with particular concerns raised over medication procedures.
The report says: “Information held about the individuals medication was not always clear and did not inform staff about why people needed specific medicines. This meant staff were not able to provide people with guidance or reassurance about the medication they took.
“We had concerns about errors in the administration and recording of medication, some of which had not been reported to managers. Not all errors had been reported to the Care Inspectorate as required. The provider must take urgent action around reporting medication errors in order that learning can be applied to improve practice.”
Concerns were also raised around the personal plans for individuals.
The report adds: “We found that some personal plans were out of date, and some were not dated. People could not be confident that staff had sufficient, accurate information to deliver their care and support safely, and in line with their wishes.”
Inspectors rated the service ‘weak’ in three areas – supporting people’s well-being, leadership and the planning of care and support, with the staff team rated ‘adequate’.
The Care Inspectorate has outlined a series of improvement that require to be implemented.
The care provider, 1st Choice, has been approached for comment.
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