Lawyers and families of Orchid View care home residents call for 'overhaul of the care industry'

Lawyers and families of the residents who suffered ‘institutionalised abuse’ at Orchid View care home in Sussex are calling for an ‘overhaul of the care industry’, in advance of the Serious Care Review due to be published this afternoon.

Medical law experts at Irwin Mitchell representing seven family members whose relatives were residents of Orchid View between 2009 and 2011, say whilst they welcome the Serious Case Review (SCR), a public inquiry into the regulation of the care industry as a whole remains vital.

Laura Barlow, who is representing the seven families, said: “Whilst we welcome the publishing of the SCR into Orchid View which promises to identify failings and draw up recommendations so that the same mistakes cannot be repeated, we believe the horrific scale of neglect warrants a completely independent inquiry.

Numerous safeguarding alerts were not acted upon

“The scale of the deficiencies in care is unprecedented in the provision of care to the elderly in the UK. Numerous safeguarding alerts in relation to failures to adequately care for vulnerable people at Orchid View were not acted upon.”

She claims the failure of the Care Quality Commission and the local authority to intervene “is suggestive of a much wider problem across the care home industry”.

“A public inquiry must be convened to ensure that the elderly and vulnerable are protected against unsafe and unacceptable practice across the care home industry and to ensure that the safeguarding authorities are fit for purpose.”

She added: “The lasting legacy of the investigations into Orchid View must be an overhaul of the care industry to ensure neglect on such a terrible scale can never happen again.”

Culture of institutionalised abuse

Nick Georgiou, former director for adult services of Hampshire County Council, was commissioned by West Sussex Adult Safeguarding Board to chair the review following an inquest into the deaths of 19 former Orchid View residents last October where a coroner described a culture of ‘institutionalised abuse’.

West Sussex Coroner Penelope Schofield concluded five deaths were contributed to by neglect and in all 19 cases examined, the care residents were given was described as ‘suboptimal’.

The five-week inquest which concluded on October 18 last year heard from witnesses who described scenes of patients being underfed and locked in their rooms, unsafe staffing levels and medical records being changed to cover up medication errors at the Copthorne home, which was run by Southern Cross and closed down in October 2011.

Residents were given wrong doses of medication, left soiled and unattended due to staff shortages and there was a lack of management. Call bells were often not answered for long periods or could not be reached by elderly people, and the home was deemed "an accident waiting to happen".

It reopened as Francis Court under new management in February 2012.

Medical law experts at Irwin Mitchell represent the families of Jean Halfpenny, Jean Leatherbarrow, Doris Fielding, Enid Trodden, Bertram Jerome, Wilfred Gardner and John Holmes. Several of the family members have formed the Orchid View Relatives Action Group in the hope of putting pressure on the Government to enforce change to the regulation of the care industry.

Speaking ahead of the SCR being published, Linzi Collings whose mother Jean Halfpenny died in 2010 after being administered three times her regular dose of the blood thinning drug Warfarin over the course of 17 days at Orchid View, said: “It is nearly eight months since the conclusion of the inquest yet we continue to see a high number of stories in the press about other care homes failing CQC inspections or being investigated for putting residents at risk.

“Given the scale of the problem we agree with our lawyers that a full independent public inquiry should now follow, using evidence from the SCR, to ensure that every care home across the country is performing to a high standard and providing quality care, rather than running as a business with money rather than welfare as its core value.”

DH called lack of care 'truly appalling'

A Department of Health spokesperson said at the time of the inquest: “The lack of care and concern shown towards these care residents was truly appalling. “We have made it clear that there must be a sharper focus on taking tougher action when things go wrong and holding those responsible to account.

“Confidence in the regulation regime has been shaken, but we have now turned a corner. We welcome Andrea Sutcliffe's commitment to protecting vulnerable people from abuse and neglect, and to ensuring they receive better care.

“We need to make sure that providers and staff are always meeting the basic requirements for care residents so they are protected from harm, treated with dignity and respect, involved in their care, and given the chance to live a fulfilling life.

“We need to make sure everything possible is done to protect people from poor care wherever it might take place.”