Two staff members have been suspended at a Barchester care home following a daughter’s complaint about the care received by her 74-year-old mother.
The action was taken at Forest Hill Care Home in Worksop following a complaint by Paula Yarnell about the care of her mother who lives with dementia.
Ms Yarnell told the Worksop Guardian she found her mother’s feet caked with dirt when visiting the home on 14 February, the Worksop Guardian reported.
She also said she found a sanitary product stained with what appeared to be faeces on the floor of her mother’s bathroom and added the home had not respected the 74-year-old’s pre-dementia pescetarian diet. She said her mother’s wedding ring had also gone missing.
“I am absolutely appalled at what has been going on at Forest Hill behind closed doors to the public eye,” Ms Yarnall said.
“What they’re not doing is making sure that every safeguard is in place so that what has happened doesn’t happen.
“It costs £800 a week there, and that is being funded by my mum – so my mum has had to sell her own home to pay for these fees and this is how they’re treating her.
“I want the staff that were caring for my mum over that period that she got like that removed from all of her personal care.”
A Barchester spokesperson said: “We are in contact with the family and have taken a number of actions regarding the situation, whilst also having expressed our sincere apologies to them. Two members of staff have been suspended while we conduct an investigation and we have notified the CQC (Care Quality Commission) of the concerns raised.
“Our senior team has visited the home and has reviewed cleaning procedures and care plans, and has reiterated to the team what is needed. The local CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group), local authority and social workers also visited the home. We cannot comment in detail but we can say that given the complexity of this case, some of the claims should be taken in context of the impetus on the home to respect each resident’s own wishes. However we are taking this extremely seriously and we will do everything possible to ensure this is addressed in full and never happens again.”
Forest Hill is currently rated Outstanding by the CQC with its last full inspection carried out in November 2017.
Following a monthly review of data on 3 February 2022 the CQC said it found no evidence that it needed to carry out an inspection or reassess its rating.
Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at CQC, said: “CQC has been made aware of concerns regarding Forest Hill in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, which is run by Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited. We take all concerns of this nature very seriously and we are taking regulatory action at this service to ensure people are safe. An inspection is currently underway.
“All information we receive informs our monitoring of services and future inspections to ensure people are receiving safe care. Where there is evidence people are at immediate risk of harm, we will not hesitate to take action by carrying out an inspection at the service, and where necessary we can then take further regulatory action.”
It’s 5 yrs since it was inspected. It DEFINITELY needs another inspection, preferably unannounced! 5 yrs is FAR too long a gap between inspections for our most vulnerable.