West Dunbartonshire home care slammed by damning inspection

The unannounced inspection evaluated all areas of the service as “weak”, rating them a two out of six, with six being “excellent” and one being “unsatisfactory.”

This comes after home care workers and the union GMB Scotland have been campaigning for months against a redesign that altered rotas, hours and staff working patterns, which they say “sabotaged standards”, meaning workers felt forced to quit their jobs.

Councillor Jim Bollan told the Clydebank Post: “Care staff and users' criticisms of the redesign have been justified by this deeply damaging report by the Care Inspectorate.”

Councillor Jim Bollan (Image: West Dunbartonshire Council)

The report, published on August 10, looked at how people’s wellbeing is supported, leadership, staff, and how care and support are planned.

The concerns outlined a “lack of continuity and not enough time being spent with people.”

It further highlighted the redesign that the service was going through, which has “impacted on all aspects of service delivery”, with the service seeing a significant staff deficit which is “impacting on consistency of care for people”, with delays in addressing recruitment concerns.

Additionally, it stated that short-term agency staff were being drafted in, and they were not always given up-to-date information on people’s needs. Access to up-to-date information was noted as an issue across the board, particularly with medication needs, which the report said has the “potential to impact people's health and wellbeing.”

This comes as leadership was under criticism, with management oversight being noted as “not effective.”

It further highlighted that the service has not been in a position to commence its training plan for dementia care, meaning that those with the disease were being supported by staff who may not have the right knowledge and understanding.

Although some strengths were noted, they were “compromised by significant weaknesses.”

The union, GMB, argue that the “weak” branding of the service across the report is a direct consequence of “incompetent and ill-considered redesign of rotas driven through by management unwilling to listen to workers.”

AnnMarie Carrigan, GMB Scotland organiser, said: “This was a surprise inspection, but it is absolutely no surprise that inspectors found a damaged and demoralised service that has been redesigned into the ground.

“The refusal of management to listen to the concerns of their dedicated staff before forcing through these changes has dismayed our members and failed the people they care for.

“This inspectors’ report and the management decisions that have led to it should be ringing alarm bells for every elected politician representing the communities of West Dunbartonshire.

“It is beyond time for the senior leadership of West Dunbartonshire Council to start listening more to our members and less to their managers.”

The home care service aims to assist vulnerable people to live independently in their own homes. They provide dementia care, as well as caring for adults with disabilities, mental health needs, those who can no longer be independent with certain tasks and those with other health needs.

Jim Bollan called the “scathing” report a “wake-up” call to the HSCP senior management, noting that the service is “vital” and supports “some of the most vulnerable in our community.”

He added: “All the blurb and positive spin from the management that the "redesign" was working well has been exposed by this highly damning critical report.

“The council voted twice by a majority to pause the redesign to have a review; these requests were refused, even though WDC provides £97m of funding a year to HSCP services.

“What is now required is for the redesign to be paused and a collaborative approach to be taken with users, families, carers and unions to work on a redesign that meets the needs of users and carers and fully meets the necessary changes identified by the Independent Care Inspectorate."

Home carers previously called the redesign “unnecessary and unfair,” with the new working patterns being dubbed “unworkable.”

We previously reported that since the redesign, 85% of home carers said the new working hours have caused their mental health to drastically suffer, and 72% noted the change has cost them money with 80% stating it has impacted their lives away from work.

They have voted in favour of industrial action, with strikes looming after the 92% majority.

GMB union members previously pictured outside West Dunbartonshire council headquarters in Dumbarton (Image: Colin Mearns)

AnnMarie added: “Our members have been dismayed and demoralised by the repeated refusal to address their concerns effectively.

“They have given managers every possible chance to ease the damage done by these rota changes, to them and the people they care for, but have been pushed to the brink of industrial action.

“It is beyond time for action to protect this crucial service built on the skill, commitment and experience of our members.”

In light of the review the service now has until November 5, 2026, to work on the issues highlighted, including reviewing and updating information that is accessible to staff and implementing a process to promptly update information.

This comes after the service was required to make certain improvements after the last inspection, for which the deadline was April 30, 2026.

Out of the five previous improvements, two were not met and have been extended to October 10, 2026.

The way the service manages complaints has not been fully met, neither was consistency across medication support.

The inspection was carried out from June 8 to June 12 between the hours of 9am and 6.45pm, with the home care service supporting 1145 people at the time.

A spokesperson for the HSCP said: “We are deeply disappointed by the outcome of this inspection and will continue to work closely with the Care Inspectorate to fully address the findings.

"Significant work is ongoing to enhance our Home Care Service and our focus remains on embedding the robust improvements identified to enhance the consistency of care provided.

"We remain grateful to our dedicated carers who continue to provide a vital service to our residents every day."