‘Overly restrictive’ care home slammed
Reporter THE “restrictive” practices of a former care home manager who refused to allow disabled residents to see their friends or “freely move around” have been revealed in a new report.
Staff at Abbeymoor Neurodisability Centre in Newcastle were “told not to allow people to freely access the community, have access to keypad numbers or independently access drinks” under the former regime, according to a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The “restrictive and unacceptable” practices were uncovered after an investigation by the service provider Lifeways, and the findings have now been published in a CQC report.
By the time CQC inspectors visited the Swalwell home in January this year, the registered manager had left and a regional operations director had been working there since November 2017.
Their inspection report acknowledged that improvements were being made but highlighted worries that none of the staff had raised concerns or alerts about the “overly restrictive” practices under the former manager.
The CQC have now put the service in special measures after rating it ‘inadequate’ following the inspection.
The centre looks after up to 40 people with degenerative neurological conditions or an acquired brain injury. NO, Hebburn has not become ground zero for a zombie apocalypse. But locals might have been worried — were it not for a helpful warning from a concerned film crew. Producers of a new horror film starring comedian Johnny Vegas wrote to residents of the South Tyneside town last week, warning them not to be “alarmed” if they saw what appeared to be the living dead wandering around their local shopping centre. The letter, from Hook Pictures, said: “The majority of the filming will take place inside one of the empty units within the shopping centre but we will be filming some short scenes on the surrounding streets. “Please note that there will be a number of actors
The CQC report said that in September last year local authority commissioners raised “a number of concerns around the operation of the service”.
It said: “The provider had found that over the preceding four years, although two other providers had operated the service, the previous registered manager had expected staff to work in very restrictive and unacceptable ways with people.
“They and care managers had found that staff were told not to allow people to freely access the community, have access to keypad wearing ‘zombie’ makeup and clothing; so please do not be alarmed.”
Meanwhile, far from being scared by the reanimated corpses popping up in town, many locals were enjoying having a little piece of Hollywood in Tyneside.
Davy Lynch bumped into actor and director Johnny Vegas as he was heading over to the caters’ station, and managed to snap a selfie with the star.
Davy said: “I met him outside the Masonic Hall on Aln Street, where the outside caterers for the film crew are based. “He was really friendly and approachable.” And if social media is anything to go by, Vegas is enjoying himself in Hebburn too.
On Friday, he tweeted: “Last day before principal shooting starts on our Hebburn Apocalypse.
“It’s pure bedlam here with last minute zombie preps but loving the buzz of taking it off the page and putting it up there on screen.” numbers within the service or to see their friends or independently access drinks.
“They have been taking action to deal with this but recognise that the culture within the service needed to change.”
At the time of the visit, the registered manager had not been working at the home since September 2017.
The report said that before this two members of staff from social services had raised concerns “that the registered manager used derogatory language, was discriminatory and adopted restrictive
It added: “None of the staff team had raised these matters either directly with senior staff or via whistleblowing procedures.”
But inspectors said that people they spoke with said the staff were kind, with one telling them: “I think they are great and do care overly practices”. about us.” They also found that since the investigation staff have completed refresher training on what constitutes abuse and “are starting to become more forthcoming about the poor practices that had been adopted”. A spokesperson for Lifeways, which acquired Abbeymoor in April 2017, said: “We apologise for the shortcomings in the quality of service provided at Abbeymoor and have a robust action plan in place to address this. “We recognised a number of areas needed to be improved when we took over the business and we have been working hard to make the necessary changes, which has been recognised by the CQC. “We have replaced the manager and, following a period with an interim manager in charge, we have now appointed a full-time replacement who will be in position next week. “We are working closely and pro-actively with the CQC and with commissioners to improve the quality of the service being delivered. “Residents and their families and carers have been informed of the result of the CQC inspection and have received information about our plan of action. “We stress that the safety and wellbeing of all our service users remains our number one priority at all times.” Hellish times in Hebburn? Don’t worry, it’s not a zombie apocalypse