NHS investigated Sanctuary nursing home concerns months before police probe launched

News24.02.207.00 AM by Jack Simpson

Concerns over the quality of service at a housing association care home led to an official probe by NHS groups six months before a police investigation was launched, Inside Housing can reveal.

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The NHS investigated service quality concerns at a Sanctuary nursing home concerns six months before the police launched an investigation #ukhousing

In October last year the police launched an investigation into a nursing home ran by Sanctuary. @InsideHousing can reveal that the NHS looked into concerns months before the investigation began #ukhousing

Concerns were raised about the services at Sanctuary Group’s Garside House Nursing Home in Westminster last spring, leading to intervention from two local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

The care home was made subject of an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into as yet unspecified “allegations relating to the treatment of residents” in October.

The police have since interviewed four women under caution, but no arrests have been made.

Inside Housing has now seen evidence showing that a series of reviews were carried out into the care home earlier in the year by Central London and Hammersmith & Fulham CCGs after they were made aware of concerns.

Garside House Nursing Home sits under the Central London CCG, however Hammersmith & Fulham CCG manages the continuing healthcare processes for Central London CCG and West London CCG under a collaboration agreement.

Reviews were also carried out by Hammersmith & Fulham CCG’s continuing healthcare clinicians which looked into the treatment of individual residents at the nursing home, while the CCG’s complex case manager also investigated concerns. At the time the manager found that the care appeared to be of a good standard.

Inside Housing understands that a review was also carried out into the care of one specific resident, which was deemed good.

Two meetings to review whether to put the care home into a formal ‘provider concerns process’ also took place in May and June, but it was decided that there was insufficient evidence to take that step.

The provider concerns process is only initiated when a serious concern is raised over the care provided at a facility.

In October, following the start of the police investigation, Westminster Council said it had suspended several members of staff and brought in council staff to manage the home.

The nursing home was put into special measures by watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January.

A report by the CQC discovered unsafe services and a series of regulatory breaches, including issues around the safeguarding of people from abuse.

It found people were being placed at undue risk of harm at the home and it was “inadequate” in four of the five categories it was graded on.

The issues found by the care watchdog at Sanctuary’s Garside House Nursing Home were:

Breaches of regulation in relation to care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse, person-centred care and dignity and respect
Care plans did not meet all people’s health and social care needs and people’s hydration needs were not always met with the risk of dehydration and weight loss not mitigated
Policies and systems did not support practice and some practices compromised people’s dignity
People’s medicines were not properly managed and end-of-life plans were not in place for patients
The provider did not have a systematic way of determining staffing levels to ensure people’s needs were safely met
There were not sufficient systems in place to protect people from the risk of neglect
Call bell systems were out of the reach for several people, meaning they would be unable to call for help in an emergency

This means the care home is now in special measures with the service under review.

Sanctuary Care has said it is sorry that the care had fallen short of the standards it strives for, but claimed it was “making excellent progress” following the CQC report.

Garside House Nursing Home accommodates up to 40 residents and provides dementia care, palliative care, residential care and respite care for older residents. It is run as part of a joint outsourcing agreement with the local NHS and Westminster Council.

There were six facilities run by Sanctuary under the agreement, including four nursing homes and two care homes.

Westminster confirmed this week that due to concerns at Garside House Nursing Home and its inadequate CQC rating it has mutually agreed with Sanctuary to end other care home contracts it holds with the association at Westmead and Carlton Dene care homes.

The care arrangements for the four Sanctuary-run nursing homes, including Garside House Nursing Home, have now been handed over to the Central London CCG, which has retained Sanctuary Care as the manager for the homes.

Sanctuary, Westminster Council and Central London CCG responses

Sarah Clarke-Kuehn, group director – Care, Sanctuary Care, said: “We are sorry that the care at Garside House had fallen far short of the standards we strive for.
“Excellent progress has been made since the CQC inspection and we are committed to making further improvements.
“We are very proud that almost 90% of our care homes are rated good or outstanding by the CQC and are confident that when inspectors next visit Garside House, they will recognise the advances that have been made.”

A spokesperson for Central London CCG, said: “Following concerns about the standard of care provided at Garside Nursing Home, Central London and West London CCGs has worked with Sanctuary Care Ltd, the organisation care provider, and other partners to develop an improvement plan that has been put into operation. Good progress is being made and we will continue to monitor this closely to ensure it continues. Our number one priority is to ensure safe and personalised care is delivered to each resident.”

A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: “The wellbeing of all our residents is at the heart of everything we do. As soon as we were informed of the serious allegations regarding the level of care at Garside House we, working with our partners, took immediate action.

"The CQC report highlighted we were right to take this action, which included bringing in additional trusted staff to oversee the care being provided. The police are still investigating and we continue to support them. The safety and care of residents remains our priority.”