Boss says care home abuse down to ‘two bad apples’

ANN Leach and Joanne Robinson were last week found guilty of ill-treating two severely disabled residents at a Bolton Council-run care home.

The pair trapped a vulnerable woman in her bedroom at the home in Worlsey Road, Farnworth, and strapped her into another resident’s chair.

Leach, aged 48, of Piggott Street, Farnworth, also pinned her against a wall, threw a jug of water over her and was aggressive towards her.

She was also found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of offences against a 39-year-old wheel-chairbound male residents. Robinson, aged 47, of Bolton Road, Kearsley, was found guilty of pushing and using offensive language to the women.

Here, Jessica Bell looks at the far-reaching impact of their ill-treatment towards residents at the home.

THERE are no “systematic failures”

in Bolton Council’s care system, the chief executive of Bolton Council has said.

Sean Harriss said since the allegations of abuse came to light, the council had undertaken a review of the service as a whole, and no issues of abuse or failings were uncovered.

A review has also been carried out by the Quality Care Commission, which ruled the service was good.

However, a review of the issues surrounding the supported housing bungalow in Worsley Road — raised by the allegations and the trial—has not yet been carried out, as this could not be done until after the trial.

But Mr Harriss said he was certain there were no inherent failings in the service and it was a case of “two bad apples”.

He said: “As soon as this information came to light, we initiated a review of the service to ensure there was no issues of systematic or process failure that we needed to be concerned about.

“We are pleased the review confirmed that and, subsequent to that, a CQC review said the service was good.

“We want to look at the specific issues that happened at Worsley Road to see if there are any lessons to be learned from this.”

John Rutherford, director of adult and community services, said a full review would be carried out as soon as the trial was completed.

Since April, the bungalow ceased to be staffed by Bolton Council employees and was taken over by private provider Lifeways, which runs about a third of the council’s supported-living properties.

During the trial, eight staff from the bungalow testified against Robinson and Leach — in April they were separated and moved to different properties.

But Mr Rutherford said this was not due to any problems uncovered by the allegations, but it was to put the staff in a less stressful environment where they were unlikely to discuss the trial.

The three residents concerned in the trial still live at the home.

At the home, Robinson and Leach have been suspended on full pay since November 2010.

Meanwhile, Unison will investigate issues of concern raised in the trial.

Branch secretary Bernadette Gallagher said she did not believe there was a widespread problem with abuse, but there were isolated issues of concern.

She added: “Recent investigations have highlighted some isolated issues of concern that need to be addressed. We also have concerns about shift patterns, supervision, training and successive management changes.

The council’s adult services staffare calling on Unison to support the principle of zero tolerance towards abuse of vulnerable adults.

This includes people with physical and learning disabilities, mental health problems and older people.

Joan Pritchard-Jones, adult services union convener, said: “Everyone working within social care has a duty to ensure vulnerable adults receive good quality care.

“Any allegations cannot be taken at face value and we need to ensure any issues are thoroughly investigated.

“Our members need to have an awareness of abuse issues and the confidence to take appropriate action if necessary.”

Parents’ anguish in putting daughter into home

PLACING their disabled daughter in full-time care was one of the hardest decisions a retired couple had to make.

But advancing years and their own ill-health meant they could no long cope with caring for their 44- year-old daughter, who was born with Cri du Chat syndrome, a rare chromosomal disorder which results in learning difficulties and, in their daughter’s case, extremely poor eyesight and virtually non-existent verbal skills.

However, the couple felt reassured when they learnt she would be one of three residents at a new councilrun home in Worsley Road, Farnworth.

The 67-year-old mother, who asked not to be named, said: “They promised us the earth when she moved there. To put her in care was a really horrendous time.”

Her daughter went to live in the home in 2008, but as time went on the mother says she felt things were not right and that her daughter was not happy.

She said: “Every time we visited she wanted to come with us. She was so upset.

We thought it was just because she wanted to come home. Something was definitely wrong.”

But she added her concerns were not dealt with. Her daughter was unhappy and her weight dropped three stones until she weighed only sevenand- a-half stones.

The mother said: “Our complaints were pushed to one side. We have been let down. We never saw a manager.”

It was not until October, 2010, that her worst nightmares were realised.

She and her husband received a telephone call to tell them that two members of staff at the home had been suspended and police were investigating allegations of ill-treatment.

“I was just broken-hearted.

I could not believe someone could hurt her,” said the mother.

The couple and the mother of another resident at the home who was also illtreated sat through the 16- day trial at Manchester Crown Court as the devastating details of cruelties inflicted on their children by Robinson and Leach were revealed.

“She has now put on weight and looks happy,” said her relieved mother, who is now confident her daughter is being looked after properly and is enjoying life.

“I will always regret having put her there and I if I could have her back at home I would. But it would not be fair to her to do that,” she said.