Laid bare, the safety failings of 1 in 4 social care services

Dementia patients left to wander Home had ants and soiled beds

ONE in four care services are failing to meet basic safety standards, a damning major report reveals today.

Elderly residents are ignored if struggling to eat, left ‘doing nothing’ for most of the day and allowed to wander outside at night.

The Care Quality Commission has rated 25 per cent of the 24,000 adult social care services in England as ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ for safety.

The services investigated include all residential care homes, nursing homes for more dependent patients and home visiting services.

The biggest concerns were within the 4,042 nursing homes of which 37 per cent were rated either ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’.

Since October 2014, the watchdog has been inspecting all adult social care services under an Ofsted- style system with ratings from ‘outstanding’ down to ‘inadequate’. Its findings are published today in a major report providing the most in-depth analysis of the care sector so far.

Chief inspector of social care, Andrea Sutcliffe, said she was surprised at just how many organisations were failing.

She also warned there were signs that overall standards were starting to fall. In total, 24 per cent of residential care homes were rated inadequate or requiring improvement alongside 22 per cent of home visiting services. The watchdog noted that a quarter of organisations which they had re- checked had slipped from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’.

In one care home near Chester run by Bupa, inspectors found elderly residents woken up at 5am and dressed as it was more convenient for staff.

Zimmer frames and walking sticks were left out of reach and patients with dementia could wander into the kitchen or let themselves out at night.

At the Meadowbrook Care Home, Oswestry, Shropshire, inspectors found ants crawling on dining tables and soiled mattresses in bedrooms.

One relative said it was ‘heart-breaking’ watching her loved one being fed by staff who had little compassion or awareness.

Andrea Sutcliffe said: ‘There’s no excuse for poor care. We cannot tolerate it and we should not tolerate it. These are things you do not want to be happening to your loved one or mum.’

She said many of the concerns uncovered by inspectors were ‘ completely and utterly unacceptable’ and would have ‘a profound impact on people’s lives.’ She also said the CQC had rated many more organisations as inadequate than they had anticipated.

One homecare firm offered elderly residents flying visits of just six minutes when they needed at least 30 minutes. The Aamina Homecare Firm, Immingham, Lincolnshire, was rated inadequate as staff routinely failed to show up.

One elderly man who needed two carers to get him up each day was left for two days without any help.

Miss Sutcliffe said: ‘ There’s no excuse for poor care. We cannot tolerate it and we should not tolerate it.

‘These are things you do not want to be happening to your loved one or mum.’

She said many of the concerns uncovered by inspectors were ‘ completely and utterly unacceptable’ and would have ‘a profound impact on people’s lives.’ The CQC warned that standards were likely to decline further because of the funding crisis in social care.

About half of patients have their residential care or home care paid for by local councils but budget cuts have left them struggling to pay the fees.

This in turn leads to a drop in standards and in some cases forces providers to close.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: ‘Older people are now effectively playing “Russian Roulette” when they need care. It is also extremely troubling that a quarter of all care services rated as good and then reinspected have since declined.

‘When significant numbers of previously effective providers are unable to sustain a quality care service you know the system’s in serious trouble.’

Walking sticks out of reach ‘Extremely troubling’