Inspectors Order Nursing Firm To Raise Standards

Arden Valley Christian Nursing Home is part of a healthcare company that recently made £500m for its former private equity owners. Yet, within days of The Sunday Times uncovering evidence of abuse and neglect of the elderly at the home, inspectors confirmed its quality of care was “poor”.

They found areas where standards were lacking which were broadly similar to those identified by an undercover reporter who worked as a care assistant at the home in Bearley Cross, West Midlands.

The home belongs to Southern Cross Healthcare Group, the UK’s biggest provider of nursing home beds, which was sold off at a huge profit by Blackstone, an American private equity group, earlier this year.

It has been highly successful since floating on the stock exchange last year and four board directors have shares worth a total of £38m.

However, at the home, the reporter witnessed: Overworked staff using “illegal lifts” to move residents instead of a hoist. Residents sometimes waiting for hours before incontinence pads were changed. Flies were crawling in one pad when it was removed. Frequent lapses in hygiene standards with staff failing to change gloves between patients risking infection. Swab tests detected both MRSA and clostridium difficile at the home.

Gary FitzGerald, head of the campaign group Action on Elder Abuse, reviewed our findings. He said: “Dragging someone across a bed is physical assault. Leaving people in soiled pads or without food is neglect and a breach of duty of care.”

A spokesman for the Commission for Social Care Inspection – which inspected the home on Thursday after being contacted by The Sunday Times – said: “Our inspectors found that overall the quality of care at the home is still poor.

“The areas where standards are inadequate are broadly similar to those found by the reporter. Statutory requirements have been issued to the home to improve in all these areas.”

It is not the first time concerns have been expressed about Southern Cross homes. The Care Commission, which inspects nursing homes in Scotland, confirmed there are currently separate police investigations into treatment of residents in two of the company’s homes.

One concerns the death of an 86-year-old resident of an East Lothian home who died after allegedly becoming malnourished, dehydrated and afflicted by bed sores. The second relates to mistreatment of a resident by two staff in a Hamilton home, who have now been dismissed by the company.

This weekend Southern Cross defended its Arden Valley home. It said the home was well run with staffing levels which were in line with “recognised” quotas.

The home’s budget, it said, was “generous” and its residents were regularly washed and well cared for. None of the residents was currently infected with MRSA, but the company said it was reinforcing its robust policies on clinical hygiene.

It said: “Our aim is to provide a safe, caring and relaxing environment for people who are unable to remain in their own homes. Capital spending on the structure of our homes, staff training and health and safety investment have all increased as a direct result of the company’s healthy financial position.”

The company said it took all allegations of abuse seriously and investigated complaints thoroughly “on the rare occasion” that they were raised. It had no reports of injuries in the last three months from residents being lifted or falling.