ELDERLY care at a hospital in Tayside must be improved after a surprise inspection highlighted 14 areas where it was falling short of national guidelines.

Inspectors visited Perth Royal Infirmary between July 7 and 9 this year to assess performance in medical, orthopaedic and elderly care wards at the district general hospital.

A report on the visit also highlighted a number of positives. Inspectors noted that "all patients had easy access to the nurse call buzzers and to fluids", adding that "buzzers were answered promptly" by staff.

The hospital's psychiatric liaison team were also praised for working well with staff, while inspectors noted that staff interactions with patients were mostly "positive and caring".

However, they listed 14 areas for improvement. These included delays in carrying out routine assessments for older people, such as cognitive impairment tests, pressure ulcer checks and nutritional assessment.

The report stated: "We reviewed 32 patient health records for pressure area care. Of these, 19 assessments had not been completed within the recommended timescale."

There were also problems with record-keeping, said inspectors, noting that "not all nursing and medical documentation is legible, dated, timed and signed".

Inspectors also flagged up to staff some failings in protecting patients' dignity.

Chief executive of NHS Tayside Lesley McLay said: "Our frontline staff work hard to ensure person-centred, safe and effective care. Some of the observations are disappointing and we are reinforcing policies with staff and providing additional training."