Care Home Boss Charged After Pensioner’s Death

A Care home director has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice following the death of a resident.

Karnjit Kaur Singh Tung was the director of Meadowside Residential Home in London Road, in Alvaston, when 83-year-old resident Frank Richardson died in January last year.

Derbyshire police have charged 33-year-old Tung with attempting to pervert the course of justice between January 20, 2007, and June 1, 2007, centring on allegations that accurate details of the death were not provided, and false documents relating to the death were produced.

It is also alleged that an attempt was made to persuade members of staff to provide false accounts of Mr Richardson’s death.

A postmortem examination into his death concluded there were no suspicious circumstances. Police started investigations in May after an anonymous telephone call was made to social services.

Tung, of Littleover, will appear before Derby magistrates next Friday.

In June last year, the home was closed down following a damning report which criticised staffing levels and quality of care.

The city council rehomed seven people who were living there.

The action followed an unannounced visit by the Commission for Social Care Inspection in February last year.

Inspectors concluded that the way the privately-owned home was run was poor in five out of seven areas.

The council said in a statement that it put its own workers into the home for several days while it moved residents out because there were not enough staff.

Fees at the home started from about £290 a week.

At the time of the closure, a spokesman said the owner, Gurnek Singh Tung, had been “very ill” and had been “unable to participate in the running of the home”.

The spokesman said the residents had been “well looked after” and they did not want to leave the home.

The total number of places available at the home at one stage had been 17.

The commission’s report said the rota for the weekend of February 24 and 25 showed only one member of care staff, who spoke limited English, had been working during the day.

Residents indicated that there were other times when there was only one member of staff on duty for longer periods at the weekend, it added.

“Residents reported that staff had split their time between cooking, cleaning duties and ironing children’s clothes for a person associated with the home.

“This is not acceptable as all these additional duties distract from the care of residents.

“Residents are not getting the social stimulation or basic care they require,” it said.