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Winter 2016 Newsletter
Complaining Relatives Banned by Care Homes A man has told the BBC he was banned from visiting the Somerset care home where his 93-yearold father resided, as a result of a complaint he made regarding the quality of his father’s care. Paul Doolan’s father, Terry, was registered blind, needed hearing aids and used a wheelchair. As a result of the ban, Paul and Terry could only arrange supervised meetings at a local restaurant. This ‘deeply upsetting’ situation seems to have arisen, Paul claims, as a consequence of a complaint he lodged regarding care staff’s failure to ensure that the batteries in his father’s hearing-aid were always adequately charged. ‘I had limited time when I’d go in to see Dad,’ Paul says. ‘And because his hearing aids weren’t working properly, because his batteries had run out or they weren’t clean, it took me a quarter of an hour to sort this out [and] to start speaking properly to him... When I wasn’t there, he probably sat in total silence and... stimulation was very important.’ In August, 2012, Paul was accused of demonstrating unacceptable behaviour towards staff – which he disputes ‘completely’ - and told to ‘cease visits’. Terry was subsequently moved to another care home. Defending the care home, a spokeswoman said: ‘I can confirm that during the time in question, the home followed all regulations set by CQC [Care Quality Commission] and all guidelines set by our local authority.’
In another case raised by the Victoria Derbyshire show, siblings, Angela and Mervyn Eastman, had to find a new home for their mother Careena, 86, when she was evicted from an Essex nursing home following a single formal complaint about poor care. Although the Eastmans had told home staff that a gash on Careena’s leg had not been properly treated, they only raised a formal complaint when other residents, known for displaying aggressive behaviour, were moved into the same area as their mother without prior notice. Two days later, saying the matter had been ‘thoroughly investigated’, the home responded that it could not ‘deal with family needs’ or ‘Careena’s needs’ and issued Careena a ‘notice to quit’ the home ‘within 28 days’. Mervyn calls it ‘an excuse’ and ‘disproportionate’ whilst the home – which has been rated as good in its two most recent CQC inspections - countered that it had a duty of care ‘to ensure that we are always able to meet individuals’ needs, and where we cannot, we are compelled to make unenviable and difficult decisions to ensure that the individual is supported to relocate to a service where their needs can be best met.’ With the help of the local authority, Careena is now living at a new home. The CQC’s Andrea Sutcliffe told the BBC: “Care homes are people’s homes. They, their family and friends should not live in fear of being penalised for raising concerns. We have published information to clarify
500 Hundred Care Providers Fail Food Inspections
More than 500 UK care providers have failed hygiene and food safety inspection including more than 200 residential, nursing and care homes. These establishments failed to meet such standards and received low grades, more than any other type of care provider, at their most recent Food Standards Agency (FSA) inspections. Around 200 nurseries, childcare centres, playgroups and out-of-school care providers, also failed to meet hygiene standards; as well as a smaller number of hospices, homeless shelters, churches and youth centres. The FSA ranks food providers with a score between
people’s rights and our expectations of providers so that people living in care homes, their family and friends can be more confident that their concerns will be listened to and acted upon by providers responsible for delivering safe, compassionate and high quality care.’ However, other voices contributing to the BBC show suggested that occurrences may be exaggerated. One former care home worker said that he was aware of only one case of relatives being banned from a family member’s care home in eight years. The care worker reported that, in that specific case, the family were at fault, being aggressive and fault-finding, their behaviour, staff believed, deriving in part from their own guilt. Eileen Chubb, who campaigns for better regulation of the care industry, says she hears from 50 to 60 families a year in similar positions to the Doolans and the Eastmans. ‘Some people raise a concern,’ she says, ‘and when it’s not dealt with and they raise a concern a second time, they’re seen as serial complainers. That seems to be a tactic that’s used against families who are raising genuine concerns. The balance of power is totally weighed against the relative raising concerns, and whatever the care home says is taken at face value by all of the authorities. So the relatives and the residents are the people with the least power, and it’s a major part of the problem.’
zero and five, where zero means the provider ‘urgently requires improvement’. Whilst 98% of hospitals and other care providers reached a satisfactory grade, establishments awarded only one or two are considered to be failing in their duties. Despite the significant majority of establishments achieving three or above, Michael Harding, a food hygiene rating scheme support officer at the FSA, noted that any care organisation receiving an unsatisfactory score was ‘a cause for concern’, because vulnerable people, including children, older people and people who are ill, were more likely to be using use their services. He went on, ‘The food safety officer will be taking the necessary action to ensure that the issues identified at caring premises with a lower rating are addressed and that vulnerable people are not put at risk.’
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