One voluntary organisation in Oban has spent more than £1 million upgrading its building and £500,000 on general repairs to meet care, health and safety and fire regulations and most of that has been over the past four years.

According to figures presented last week at a forum in Oban by the Care Commission, no fewer than 87 per cent of care homes in Argyll and Bute have ‘requirements’ that need to be met in order to reach the minimum standards necessary.
The figure for the whole of Scotland, based on inspections last year, is 63 per cent. Neighbouring Inverclyde is 52 per cent.
Argyll and Bute’s rural location is being blamed for some of the problems its providers, both public and private, face.

Around 20 homes are registered with the commission.
A spokeswoman for the Care Commission in Argyll and Bute said: ‘It is quite difficult for providers to access training because it tends to be based in Edinburgh or Glasgow or the central belt.

‘We are still required by the Scottish government to make that a ‘requirement’ because the provider should have adequate staff, properly trained; although we give them more time in this area to get the training in place.’
Another ‘requirement’ is the appropriate number of trained staff, which can also be an issue in an area that relies heavily on tourism.
‘People will leave work in a care home because they can get more money working in a hotel but the care home needs to have a minimum number of staff,’ said the spokeswoman.

‘Older buildings are also a problem because they are difficult to revamp to meet the needs of an ageing population, for instance putting in a lift – but it is necessary for older people.’

The percentage of care at home and adult day care services with ‘requirements’ by the Care Commission in Argyll and Bute was 71 per cent, with the national average 39 per cent and in housing support services was 67 per cent, while the national average was 36 per cent, again down to training, staff levels and management issues.
Ken Oxland, treasurer and administrator at North Argyll House in Oban, agreed there should be national standards of care but said staff were difficult to find in the town and training was difficult to access and expensive.

‘We are trying to get staff all the time. We retain staff because we are a good employer but we have difficulty filling those last two or three places and the regulations are biased towards the central belt.

‘We buy in our training but it is very expensive. It is okay in Glasgow saying to half a dozen homes we are running a handling course but it doesn’t work up here.
‘It costs around £1,200 for nine staff for each session and we have to have all the courses on-going. The Care Commission should provide the trainers free – we pay it a fortune.’

The Care Commission spokeswoman said that there was a willingness by the majority of providers to work with the commission to meet the required standards.
‘I would like to think that we are pushing up the level of care. What we want is the best service possible for people and that is our focus and will continue to be.’

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