• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Bylines Scotland
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Bylines Scotland
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

Balhousie Pitlochry Care Home fails inspection

Concerns over wellbeing of residents in Balhousie Pitlochry Care Home. A result of insufficient local affordable housing, transport, and low income.

Charlie McCarthybyCharlie McCarthy
29-09-2022 07:00
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Photograph by Charlie McCarthy, printed with permission.

Photograph by Charlie McCarthy, printed with permission.

139
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Following a recent inspection of the Balhousie Pitlochry Care Home, inspectors reported issues regarding the mental health and wellbeing of residents. The report raises concerns about the details of individual care plans, residents’ complaints about being ‘bored’, and the inability to access the communal areas of the care home and the gardens during the summer months. The inspectors found that 4 out of 5 of the inspection areas were ‘weak’.

The report states:

“People should expect to experience compassion, dignity, and respect. We had serious concerns that staff appeared rushed and had no time for meaningful interactions with people (i.e. residents).

“People were not supported in having freedom of movement. We heard that people had not been supported to use the garden over the summer.

“People do not have the right equipment in place to enable them to spend time out of their bed. This puts their skin at risk of pressure wounds and was detrimental to their rehabilitation.’’

Image by author, printed with permission.
Health

Monkeypox: What is it and why now?

byDr Patricia S Paton
22 September 2022

The Balhousie Pitlochry Care Home is short of staff. A recent advert on their website offers a salary of £10.50 per hour with “a £1000 Golden Hello joining incentive for a limited time.” The Balhousie Group is Scotland’s largest care provider, with 25 homes, over 900 residents and 1500 staff. The care home in Pitlochry is situated in a rural location. Anyone interested in taking up such a post will need their own transport to travel to and from the care home and work the shift pattern that is essential to providers of round the clock care.

The issue in Pitlochry is that there is very little affordable housing for anyone moving into the area to take up such a position. This restricts the pool of people who may potentially join the workforce. The post comes with a 45p per mile travel allowance over 10 miles to the care home. This indicates that the Balhousie Care Group is recruiting outside the town of Pitlochry, a situation that makes it more difficult for care managers to always ensure adequate levels of staff in the care home.

Photograph by Charlie McCarthy, printed with permission.

Care home fees have recently risen from £4,800 per month to £5,200 for residents who are self-funding. Government-funded residents contribute £4,400 per month. This means that self-funding residents get through their savings more quickly and then drop to the Government’s fee, causing a reduction in income for the care providers. This puts pressure on the care providers, who have to do more with less income. A vicious circle.

Relatives of residents have been invited to a meeting at the care home on Thursday 29 September. When BylinesScotland approached Balhousie Pitlochry Care Home, Gillian Drummond, the Brand and Communications manager, replied,

“Hello,

“Thank you for your interview enquiry. It’s a no, sorry.

Gillian.’’

We await the outcome of the meeting.


We need your help!

The press in our country is dominated by billionaire-owned media, many offshore and avoiding paying tax. We are a citizen journalism publication but still have significant costs.

If you believe in what we do, please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette from as little as £2 a month🙏

Tags: health
Previous Post

Deficits are nothing to be afraid of

Next Post

Fresh ferry delay “disappointing” say builders

Charlie McCarthy

Charlie McCarthy

Charlie writes the "Out and About" monthly column for Bylines Scotland as well as a number of other features. Charlie lived for many years in North Yorkshire before moving back to Scotland. Originally from Glasgow, he lived in the North of England for most of his life. Before becoming a writer, Charlie was a science teacher. His areas of interest include politics, the environment and education.

Related Posts

Hidden disabilities sunflower lanyard
Covid

Long Covid can be a hidden disability that we need to recognise

bySusie Porter
22 September 2023
Process of vaccine manufacturing with several glass vials
Climate Change

Establishment of regional vaccine manufacturing hubs

byLynne Copland
7 September 2023
A health worker with gloves taking care of the earth against Covid-19
Covid

A Covid Update

byLynne Copland
29 August 2023
Illustration of bioscientists working on COVID19 virus
Covid

Pandemic collateral damage

byDr Patricia S Paton
24 August 2023
Development of mRNA vaccines
Scientific Research

mRNA vaccines – positive product of the Covid-19 pandemic

byLynne Copland
21 July 2023
Next Post
Image via author, printed with permission.

Fresh ferry delay "disappointing" say builders

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CROWDFUNDER

Subscribe to our newsletters
CHOOSE YOUR NEWS
Follow us on social media
CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS
Download our app
ALL OF BYLINES IN ONE PLACE
Subscribe to our gazette
CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUSTAINABILITY
Make a monthly or one-off donation
DONATE NOW
Help us with our hosting costs
SIGN UP TO SITEGROUND
We are always looking for citizen journalists
WRITE FOR US
Volunteer as an editor, in a technical role, or on social media
VOLUNTEER FOR US
Something else?
GET IN TOUCH
Previous slide
Next slide

LATEST

Scottish flag in Scottish sky

Brave are the hearts that beat …

23 September 2023
Hidden disabilities sunflower lanyard

Long Covid can be a hidden disability that we need to recognise

22 September 2023
Salmon in a fish farm without an eye

Worrying footage emerges from certified Scottish salmon farm

20 September 2023
edinburgh

Scotland’s capital is a hive of chip design and innovation

19 September 2023

MOST READ

No Content Available

BROWSE BY TAGS

Books Brexit Christmas ClimateChange Covid Covid19 Culture cycling Defence Democracy Devolution election ferry FishFarms Glasgow Halloween health History Holyrood independence IndyRef2 Journalism Labour LGBT+ Liz Truss Monarchy NATO NHS Nicola Sturgeon politics Poverty Russia Sars-CoV-2 Scotland Security and Defence shipbuilding SNP Sunak Tories Twitter UBI Ukraine UK Supreme Court vaccines War in Ukraine
Bylines Scotland

We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Scotland and beyond.

Bylines Scotland is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a partner organisation to Byline Times.

Learn more about us

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • Authors
  • Complaints
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Network Map
  • Network RSS Feeds
  • Privacy

© 2023 Bylines Scotland. Powerful Citizen Journalism

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Scotland
    • World
  • Politics
    • Council Areas
    • Europe
    • Holyrood
    • Rest of UK
    • Westminster
  • Business
    • Fishing
    • Trade
    • Transport
  • Health
  • Environment
    • Climate Change
  • Opinion
  • Donate
  • Newsletter sign up
CROWDFUNDER

© 2023 Bylines Scotland. Powerful Citizen Journalism

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In