Stranraer ARC meeting? Neglected maintenance. Care Commission say Dunmuir Park “care home accommodation remains shabby, dirty and damaged in places”. Unanounced inspection in January.

Attention Stranraer focus group.  Following up your message of 1^st March is there any more news about the possible meeting at your ARC and the group being set up?  Have you seen the various open responses and comments to ‘Galloway Lass’ on this site?  Any idea who ‘Galloway Lass’ might be and will she identify herself?

Lack of basic maintenance – hidden budget cuts as a matter of Council policy. As indicated a few weeks ago, the latest report of a Care Commission unannounced Inspection of Dunmuir Park on 19^th Jan 2010 is now available on the Care Commission www site, (full  link as follows: http://www.carecommission.com/berengCareservices/html/reports/getPdfBlob.php?id=197942 ) On page 21 the Inspector again states that:

“We looked at the physical standard of the buildings during the inspection as we do each year. This was not a detailed examination of the property or the internal accommodation but the state of the building gave cause for concern. As each year passes the unattended repairs and deteriorating fabric of the care home become more obvious.  The manager and staff stated that though reports of faults and repairs are attended to by the Council, major issues are not progressed. While the resident accommodation is very much in need of refurbishment and decoration, this has not been addressed. Once again we noted that the result of this is that the care home accommodation remains shabby, dirty and damaged in places.  Areas for Improvement The standard of maintenance of the property from which the service is provided is not acceptable and this has been identified in successive reports for several years.  …..”

To date there has been no answer from the Council to the FDP complaint, whilst the 20 day time limit expires this week.  No one is holding their breath given the documented history of the morally corrupt complaints process operated by Dumfries & Galloway Council, and it’s still the same managewrs, many now promoted!    The FDP formal complaint to the Care Commission will be followed up, not least because reports of faults are not attended to as claimed by the manager, like the loose glass in the exit door last June and the furniture.

For the Council to continue to “pull the wool over our eyes”, as the Care Commission said a few weeks ago is simply not acceptable for the next 4 or more years.  The DGPPG is reliably informed that it was agreed last year by senior Council managers that the existing DP buildings must remain in operation for at least that time, even if analternative development was agreed now.  This reality and true situation was explained to the Care Commission a few weeks ago, as they were being kept in the dark by the Council.  Yet the uncaring and untrustworthty social worke dept is obviously content that, “The standard of maintenance of the property from which the service is provided is not acceptable and this has been identified in successive reports for several years.  ….”.  That Care Commission inspection says it all in describing the real values of this Council and its managers, despite all their fine words of “Personalisation”.  Beware!

There is no doubt a similar scenario is and will unfold at the ARCs, because of the inept and incompetent short term thinking and ‘cost saving’, which is a lack of real planning by the same managers.  Consider the latest debacle over the other ‘planned’ disabled cost saving plans, now withdrawn from Committee at the last minute because of basic elementary failures, just like the ARC closure ‘plan’ last year.  Yet these ‘plans’ are supposedly the expert and considered work of very highly paid ‘managers’ and ‘strategic’ thinkers and ‘leaders’.  It’s no wonder we are in a mess and they will make it worse, unless properly held to account.  No doubt that’s why JA now refuses to meet with the DGPPG but wants to try and divide and rule with small seperate meetings, as proposed at Stranraer.  Please will you keep all other ARCs informed via comments on this site.