Care worker suspended over abuse probe

A care worker in Lincoln has been suspended as police continue to investigate alleged abuse of a vulnerable man at a care home in the city.

The man, understood to have dementia, was filmed being tormented, allegedly by a female worker at Cathedral Care Centre, located on Nettleham Road, back in May 2018.

In a video posted on Lincolnshire Live, a woman continually quizzed him about supposed sexual encounters and asked him to sing a song, claiming “Jeremy Corbyn says you’ve got to”.

She also told him he had gay tendencies and threatened to take his walking stick in a distressing exchange.

Police are investigating, along with Care Quality Commission, Lincolnshire County Council and the nursing home.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: “We are investigating an allegation in relation to Cathedral Care Centre in Lincoln. One person was interviewed under caution last week. The investigation is ongoing.”

Staff suspension

A staff member suspected to have been involved in the incident was suspended, confirmed current nursing home owners St Philip’s Care, who took over in October 2018, ‘as soon as they became aware of the situation around two weeks ago’.

The new owners were not in charge of running the home at the time of the incident in May 2018.

The company told The Lincolnite they were not made aware of issues with any staff members by previous owners Hayworth Care Ltd and received a complaint from other staff members recently.

Safeguarding, police and CQC were then all informed.

The CQC carried out comprehensive inspections last year. CQC has since carried out a full inspection, with a report on the findings to be published soon..

CEO at St Philip’s Care Dermott Kelly told reporters The Lincolnite: “It relates to prior ownership. We are supporting staff in conjunction with the local authorities, CQC and police.

“We were not made aware by the previous owners and found out within the last two weeks from another member of staff.

When we became aware we suspended the staff member alleged to be involved and contacted the authorities.

“Lincolnshire County Council and CQC visited last week and reported everything in the home was fine.”

Kelly was at the site on Tuesday and last week, with another meeting scheduled for next week. There is also a regional manager in place regularly now.

He added: “We run 31 nursing homes and already have strict policies in place. It is the same with every one of our 1,000 residents in England and Scotland making sure care needs are met.

“The respect and dignity of residents is at the core of the organisation and that will continue”.

Adults Safeguarding Manager for Lincolnshire County Council, Linda MacDonnell, said: “We have been working with the CQC and the police to ensure the safety of residents and we continue to help with the investigation.”

Inspection report due

Interim Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at CQC Debbie Westhead said: “Following an allegation of abuse concerning one person living at Cathedral Nursing Home in Lincolnshire, we have carried out a full inspection and a report of our findings will be published in due course.

“The allegation is being investigated by Lincolnshire Police and we await the outcome of this. In the meantime, we are continuing to work closely with the police, Lincolnshire County Council, Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group and other agencies to ensure the well-being of everyone who is living at the home.”

Previous inspections

• The home was previously inspected in February 2018, when it was run by Hayworth Care Limited. It was put into special measures after five breaches of regulations and an ‘Inadequate’ rating.
• CQC carried out a comprehensive inspection on July 24-25 2018 at Cathedral Nursing Home.
• The service is registered to provide accommodation for up to 38 younger adults, older people or people living with a dementia type illness, with 22 living there during the inspection in July 2018.
• A report was published in October 2018 rating the service as ‘Requires Improvement’. It received that rating to questions about whether it is safe, effective and well-led, although the home did score good for being caring and responsive.
• A Notice of Decision also imposed conditions on the service, including a restriction on further admissions to the service and staff competency checks. This included avoidable hazards relating to infection control, fire risks and environmental issues being found.
• At the July inspection it was noted that improvements had been made, including more regular team meetings and the appointment of permanent staff to reduce the dependency on agency staff.