AUTHORITIES will not suspend the registration of the Skye care home at the centre of a fatal coronavirus outbreak, a court has heard.
Ten residents died in the outbreak at Home Farm in Portree that devastated the island.
NHS Highland took over its operation and court action against private owners HC-One was launched in March by Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland.
Today it said was dropping an application to suspend the home's registration as residents are no longer at risk.
David Logan, representing the petitioners, said an inspection had taken place in the last 48 hours.
But, appearing via video link to the hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court, Logan said questions remain over who will operate the home in the long-term and said that must be established before further decisions are made.
He said: "In the last 48 hours there has been a further inspection carried out of the home and although that inspection did raise some issues in relation to the use of PPE [personal protective equipment] and indeed the storage of some medicine, it's not maintained by the petitioners that the position is that people are currently seriously at risk in terms of their health.
"There is, however, a problem because the reason that's the situation is because NHS Highland became involved in the operation and the running of the home and effectively have taken over day-to-day control of that, and they of course are not the registered service provider — that remains the respondent."
He went on: "One possibility that may happen going forward is that NHS Highland may take over the registration completely by making their own application, at which point the registration of the respondent may well be dismissed or voluntarily surrendered.
"The other possibility is that the respondent would return to being in day-to-day control of the home and that would be a major concern if the issues that were identified in the petition, which gave rise to the petition, have not been addressed in detail."
Logan asked for a further hearing in a few weeks to give HC-One the opportunity to clarify who will manage the home in the future and to give Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland the time to assess whether the proposals about its future are acceptable.
Malcolm Gunnyeon, representing HC-One, said the home is being run as a partnership between it and NHS Highland.
He said: "I don't accept that NHS Highland are currently running the home, it is a partnership of which HC-One is very much a part."
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said the application for interim suspension will be dropped and set a further procedural hearing for August.
Responding to the development, local MSP Kate Forbes said: "The latest development regarding Home Farm demonstrates how seriously the Care Inspectorate are taking the standards of care and also how instrumental NHS Highland's involvement has been to date.
"The residents continue to get the highest possible care, and NHS Highland continues to play a leadership and management role at Home Farm.
"I am confident that NHS Highland will not walk away and are committed to sustaining high levels of care at Home Farm over the long term."
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