Newcastle care home whistleblowers alert CQC to failings

Staff concerns about Ella McCambridge Care Home had been ignored, its owners acknowledged

A care home has been placed in special measures after whistleblowers alerted the care watchdog to serious failings.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducted an unannounced visit to the Ella McCambridge Care Home, in Walker, Newcastle, after being tipped off.

Inspectors rated it inadequate having found "widespread and significant shortfalls" in care.

The home's owners said they had acted immediately and new managers had since been brought in.

At the time of the inspection in January, the property in Winslow Place had 47 residents, including some with dementia.

The CQC found:

• Gaps in care records

• Problems with the management of medicines

• No effective system to ensure staff were suitably trained

• People were not always well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect

• Care plans did not fully reflect people's needs

Alison Chilton, CQC deputy director of operations in the North, said the care home "wasn't well led" at the time of the inspection "which was impacting on all areas of the care people living there received".

However, she added a recent change in leadership at the home had left "staff and relatives feeling more confident" with the new team "focused on improving training and overall standards of care".

'Records destroyed'

The home's parent company, Manor Care Home Group, said it acted immediately after being made aware of failings with Ella McCambridge's managers.

The firm's operational director, Vanessa Cutler, acknowledged CQC inspectors had visited after receiving "several anonymous complaints which we now believe to have been [from] staff" who "hadn't been listened to ... and were refusing to work with the management team", leading to a reliance on agency workers whose training and documentation had not been checked thoroughly.

Ms Cutler added "several records had been tampered with and destroyed" with the home's manager resigning on 20 January following "questions regarding their conduct".

"We have now got a full, dedicated staff team since we have intervened including new management," she said.

"We are dedicated to our homes and this has been a huge shock but lessons have been learnt by everyone involved.

"We have had meetings with residents and their families and been open and honest about the last few months and had very good feedback."