Insider reveals care home concern

[LuBz]

A Nottinghamshire care home and official care inspectors have said they will review procedures after a BBC investigation found alleged failings.

A BBC reporter said a resident was left in urine-soaked clothes, other patients were left unattended and anti-infection procedures were sometimes not followed.

When the concerns were reported to the Commission for Social Care Inspection, it took almost two months to act.
The commission admitted it was slow to react in the case.

Concerns over the standard of care at Moorlands at Brindsley in Nottinghamshire, which looks after about 40 people and is owned by Regal Care Homes, were initially raised by an ex-member of staff.

MRSA precautions

To investigate 'Tony', an undercover reporter from the BBCs Inside Out, got a job as a care assistant. He found one cleaner who admitted staff often "forgot" to wear protective aprons or immediately change gloves when dealing with residents who they believed were recovering from an MRSA infection.

Tony also witnessed one resident being made to wait to go to the toilet - despite her pleading for help. He estimated she had to wait for half an hour.

On another occasion a carer said a resident had been left soaked in urine because he had not been fitted with an incontinence bag.
She believed this had led to him having a painful skin condition. The home's management disputes this allegation and says the bags were available.


In one incident, after leaving a duty nurse to look after residents in the lounge, Tony returned to find the room unattended and a resident half naked after soiling herself.
Her relative, Raymond Skelton, said while he had been previously happy with the care provided by Moorlands, he was upset by the Inside Out report.
"When you put somebody into a care home you are trusting somebody else to look after your relative in the best way and in the best interest of them," he said.


It also maintains the lounge was never left unattended on the evening Raymond Skelton's relative soiled herself.

But the company said occasionally staff do have to leave residents alone and added it was inevitable some will have accidents like this. Inside Out turned to the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), which oversees 18,500 care homes in England and encourages staff to report any concerns


Despite this it took three phone calls and 54 days for the Commission to take up the case.

Mike Rourke from CSCI admitted he was not happy with this wait.
"At this stage it looks as if there may have been a number of people who were involved and we want to understand what they did and why they didn't act as our procedures required.

"But our view is that this is an exception, there are lessons I'm sure to be learned from this and we will do so," he said.
It has now launched an inquiry into the delay.

Moorlands passed a CSCI inspection in October 2007 but when inspectors returned to investigate the BBCs claims, they ordered a number of on-the-spot improvements.

Regal Care Homes, which runs 18 homes in England, said Moorlands has always complied with the NHS guidelines on infection control and had an excellent reputation among residents' relatives. It has now dismissed the home's manager and says extra managers and carers are now in place.

Man thas disgustin.. This is the reason why I'm so against people leavin their parents in places like this if they are capable of looking after them themselves.. It's horrible.

I'm shocked at CSCI though.. They're constantly on our backs and they don't waste time in pickin up on stuff that aint as it should be..