SCANDAL OF CARE HOMES EVICTING ELDERLY
Thousands thrown out ‘in revenge’ after families complain about treatment of their loved ones
CARE homes are accused of “grudge evictions” today.
Thousands of elderly
and vulnerable residents are turfed out in “revenge” for families complaining about treatment, campaigners say.
Figures obtained by the Daily Express show 2,087 elderly people were kicked out of their accommodation last year amid claims providers were silencing loved ones who dared to speak out.
The true scale of so-called “revenge evictions” is unknown but the previously unseen data from the Care Quality Commission, England’s health and social care watchdog, shows six OAPs were served notice to leave every day.
Some elderly residents with complex health conditions like dementia had to leave within a month in spiteful moves that caused untold distress and disruption.
Jayne Connery is founder and director of Care Campaign for the Vulnerable which acts on behalf of families served eviction notices.
She said: “This morally bankrupt behaviour by providers has to stop and stricter protection put in place for families of vulnerable residents.
“The CQC needs to become fully aware there is still a percentage of care providers who are not operating transparently or ethically when they are allowed to hide behind false reasons for an eviction.”
The figures highlight the number served notice, not the reason for doing so. But the CQC acknowledged vulnerable residents were being penalised after their families raised concerns, saying the problem was “unacceptable”.
Experts fear the problem is likely to be much worse than the official figures suggest because the data relates to just 39 per cent of the 15,842 care homes in England.
The data comes from Provider Information Return forms, an annual procedure care homes have to complete to ensure the service they provide is “safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led”. The scandal of “revenge evictions” has forced the CQC to update its survey to specifically ask providers how many people had been served notice due to a change in their care needs and how many had been evicted for other reasons – and what those reasons were.
Kate Terroni, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said: “Care homes are people’s homes and no one should live in fear of being penalised for raising concerns. Sadly, we’re aware that this is not always the case.
“This is why we are updating our visitor’s guidance to clearly set out people’s rights and the expectations we have of providers, whose responsibility it is to respond to complaints positively.
“It is not acceptable for people to be treated unfairly if they raise concerns and appropriate action will be taken if we find providers failing in their responsibilities.”
Campaigners said some homes were hiding behind the excuse of a “change in care needs” as a way to remove troublesome families from the picture and silence them.
In many cases relatives think carers do a good job in difficult circumstances but there are simply not enough of them.
Sharon Chalk, 56, from Suffolk, has been off work with depression and anxiety after her dementiastricken mother Diana Reeve was served notice to leave in July.
Mrs Reeve, who worked until she
was 75, was placed in a care home in 2016. But three years later, her daughter said, she was given just 28 days to get out.
The home in Suffolk caters for people with dementia and is rated generally good, though a recent inspection did make some points about leadership.
Mrs Chalk said the notice telling her to find another home for her mother arrived “out of the blue” and followed a series of complaints.
In most cases letters are sent out to families because loved ones do not have the capacity to complain themselves, leaving them just weeks to find new accommodation.
The Daily Express was told some providers issue eviction notices because they had received genuine complaints about unexplained injuries, poor-quality care or staff shortages – and did not want the trouble of dealing with them.
Many relatives keep quiet, fearing they will be unable to find a place for a loved one in another home if they go public. Patricia Bunn’s sixyear residency in a home was ended without warning at a meeting called after the 88-year-old was found slouched in a chair with blood dripping from her mouth.
Daughter Debbie said: “We were in shock when the home said they were exercising their right to terminate mum’s contract. She was in the final stages of dementia and died seven weeks later.”
There are now thought to be 1.4million older people with unmet social care needs and publication of the Social Care Green Paper, a blueprint to overhaul a broken system, has been delayed six times.
Barbara Stoddart, 57, a wellbeing co-ordinator for a care home in the North-west, said: “The problem in residential and nursing homes is that they’re understaffed, underfunded and undervalued. It’s not being able to give the care you want because the paperwork is that much. It’s very stressful.”
Her sister Ann, 54, a care home chef, said: “People don’t have any idea of the crisis until one of their family members goes in to a home, then the shock is astronomical.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said: “People in care homes and their families rightly expect the highest standards and it is unacceptable for anyone to be forced to leave unfairly.”