'Sorry' says care home owner after secret Panorama film reveals 'inhumane' care

Care provider the Morleigh Group, which became the focus of a BBC Panorama documentary revealing 'inhumane' care in two of its nursing homes in Cornwall, has apologised 'unreservedly'.

Broadcast on BBC One on 21 November, ‘Panorama: Nursing Homes Under Cover’, shows secret film footage recorded in Clinton House nursing home in St Austell and St Theresa’s nursing home in Callington by a reporter posing as a resident and two others working as staff.

Dementia Care

The damning footage shows an undercover care assistant 'Lucy' left to look after a resident with severe dementia - despite having no specialist training. The resident with dementia (as shown in the video above) is seen lying in a broken bed while another care worker refuses to hold her hand.

Toilet needs

Another undercover reporter, posing as a resident with memory problems on respite, stayed at St Theresa’s home at a cost of £750 per week. At St Theresa’s, the reporter hears “Somebody help please” from a resident calling out for the toilet repeatedly at 10.30am. It is 10.45am when staff respond and take him to the toilet.

The documentary showed residents were often left in incontinence pads, even if they could walk to the toilet with help, instead of being taken to the bathroom.

Dr Peter Holden, a GP, whose elderly care has been rated Outstanding, said: “The problem with being left in an incontinence pad is the urine and the faeces are chemicals, they are not designed to being left in contact with the skin. The skin will be damaged.

“You wouldn’t do it to your baby, why are we doing it to the elderly?”

The Morleigh Group said refusing to take a resident to the toilet or using incontinence pads instead would result in disciplinery action.

Another resident in her nineties was left on her bedpan for 40 minutes and ended up getting stuck on it, which required two workers to free her.

Medicine management

The broadcast also shows medication left lying around in a resident’s room while another resident is given a prescription supplement that is two years out of date and prescribed for someone else. The original prescription label had been peeled off and the out-of-date supplement re-labelled for use by a current resident.

When one resident said she was feeling unwell and thought she would need to go to hospital, the undercover care assistant told a nurse. The nurse suggested giving the resident a dose of morphine, because it "will shut her up".

When footage of this incident was shown to Dr Holden, he said: "Morphine is not there to be a cosh on patients. That won't have been prescribed for that and would never be so."

CRB checks

Undercover worker 'Alice' should not have been left alone with residents because St Theresa’s is yet to receive the results of her criminal records check. Despite this, a nurse on duty asks Alice to feed a resident on her own.

The care regulator Care Quality Commission (CQC) told St Theresa’s care home more than a year ago to improve the screening of new staff.

Care home heating

Despite it being late September, the care home is cold because the radiators are not on, resulting in residents repeatedly complaining about being cold. The Morleigh Group said Clinton House is heated all year round and a temporary problem with the heating system was fixed.

The film footage revealed many residents did not have hot water in their rooms - at least nine rooms in total. Alice, the undercover care worker often had to take a bowl and search for hot water elsewhere in order to wash residents.

The Morleigh group said there were some problems when a new boiler was installed and residents were provided with hot water throughout.

Morleigh Group apology for 'inhumane' actions of staff

The company, runs six care homes in Cornwall and is owned by Steven and Patricia Juleff. Following the findings of the investigation, the Morleigh Group closed Clinton House.

In a statement the Morleigh Group stated: “The Morleigh Group utterly condemns the actions of inhumane, uncaring and unprofessional individuals in the programme. We apologise unreservedly to all of our residents and their families for the pain and distress suffered following the Panorama programme’s revelations.

“We can confirm that dismissals have been made both since and prior to being notified by the producers of the Panorama programme. Furthermore, we are now undertaking careful examination of the footage as part of further disciplinary proceedings.

“The revelations have also caused considerable anger and anguish amongst our 200+ staff – the overwhelming majority of whom are trustworthy and dedicated care professionals. They are currently working around the clock to bring comfort and reassurance to all of our residents at this extremely sensitive time.”

The Morleigh Group’s six care homes are: Elmsleigh Nursing Home in Par, St. Theresa's Nursing Home in Callington, Brake Manor in St Austell, Clinton House in St Austell, Tregertha Court in Looe and Collamere in Lostwithiel.

Cornwall Council paid the group £3m in 2015

The Morleigh Group earned £1.5m profit after tax in 2015. In 2015, Cornwall Group paid more than £3m to the group to care for elderly. In a statement, Cornwall Council, which placed residents at Clinton House is now investigating two more Morleigh Group homes.

Trevor Doughty, Cornwall Council’s strategic director for children, families and adults, said: “I am sorry that the standard of care provided by Morleigh Group has fallen far short of what residents, their relatives and the general public have a right to expect.

“What has been uncovered in these two homes is exceptional, is shocking, and is utterly unacceptable."

The council and NHS Kernow is in the process of moving its residents out of Clinton House. Mr Doughty said: “We are confident that all residents will have been moved to their new homes by 25 November.

He added: “We will sometimes have to use care homes with a ‘Requires improvement’ CQC rating as is common across the country.

CQC "appalled"

The CQC has inspected the Morleigh group’s services 22 times in the last two years following complaints. It stated it had taken enforcement action by issuing warning notices to the group.

Andrea Sutcliffe, the CQC's chief inspector of adult social care, said: "We are taking tough action against the Morleigh Group to protect the people living in four of its nursing homes in Cornwall.

“We have had serious concerns with the Morleigh Group for some time. We have kept this provider under close scrutiny, responded to issues raised directly with us.

Referring to Collamere, Elmsleigh, Clinton House and St Theresa’s which had Requires Improvement ratings, Ms Sutcliffe said: "In all four nursing homes, we were appalled to have found that the Morleigh Group had allowed the quality of care to decline.

“A rating of 'Requires Improvement' was a clear signal that the provider needed to act. The owner, Mrs Juleff, had every opportunity to get this right but she failed. She has squandered the support from both Cornwall Council and the local clinical commissioning group. She has utterly neglected her duty of care to the residents of these homes.”