Work ongoing to get Yell care home open again, meeting hears
REASSURANCES have been sought that efforts are being made to get the Isleshavn care home in Yell back up and running.
Residents were decanted from the care home during the summer due to staffing challenges.
Shetland West councillor Liz Peterson raised the matter at a meeting of the integration joint (IJB) audit committee on Thursday.
She said there was a fear from some in the community that Isleshavn may not open again.
Peterson sought assurance that “every effort is being made to get it back up to normal and recruit the people that we need”.
IJB chief officer Jo Robinson, who is Shetland’s director of health and social care, responded by saying “absolutely”.
“There are ongoing meetings with the managers of Isleshavn and the managers are meeting very regularly with the staff there, who are remaining in post and are working on development plans,” she said.
Robinson said Isleshavn also provides care at home too, so Yell is not without care – but she added that “we are absolutely committed” to the 24/7 model.
Residents were moved out of the care home as it was ruled that the facility could not be safely staffed.
It can host up to 10 residents, but has supported no more than seven residents for a number of years due to the lack of staff.
Announcing the moving of residents in August, Shetland Islands Council said there were “well-known and longstanding issues around recruitment of staff to the care service, and specifically at Isleshavn, with an increasing dependence on the use of agency staff”.
The Mid Yell care home was also given two “weak” ratings by inspectors earlier in the summer, with concerns raised about the leadership and staff team.
Robinson said that given the rating, “clearly there’s a significant amount of work to do there”.
According to the inspection report, some staff “did not like to work with others”, they found, with several workers raising concerns about the culture at the care home.
Staff members also “reported feeling overworked and fatigued and that they had limited opportunities for rest days”.
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