|
|
 |
| |
Cheverton Lodge |
'STAFF PANIC' HOME TO WIN £2.4M DEAL
Contract lined up for renewal despite concerns voiced by coroner
A PRIVATE care home is in line for a £2.4 million Town Hall contract just two months after a coroner questioned the standard of care given to a dying patient.
Now, Islington pensioners and Labour group leader Councillor Catherine West are calling for clauses in future contracts to ensure spot checks are carried out on care homes.
Retired electrician John Jackson died at Cheverton Lodge, in Upper Holloway, in August last year. An inquest in December heard of the “panic” that followed among staff when Mr Jackson collapsed.
St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid said: “This case raises concerns about the skills of staff nursing patients at Cheverton Lodge.”
The case was noted in a report presented last night (Thursday) to a meeting of the council executive, where councillors approved an extension of the contract with Barchester Healthcare, the company which owns Cheverton Lodge.
The deal, for 30 beds for two years, with an option to extend for a further two years, is worth an estimated £2.4 million – £40,000 per bed per year. This is close to private fees, which are from £900 a week (nearly £47,000 a year) for care and accommodation.
The waiting list for places is over a year.
Cllr West wants the decision to be brought before the council’s overview committee. She said: “I want councillors to carry out spot checks and an expectation that there be excellent standards and a regular programme of checks.
“I accept most professional inspectors are excellent but I also feel it’s incumbent on councillors to play their part. I accept Cheverton Lodge is a nice-looking place and seems to have very nicely decorated rooms but the concern here is about staff and quality.”
She added: “The more you contract services the more there’s an incentive for private companies to cut staff and put them on lower and lower wages and that leads to lower levels of skills and service.”
Adult social care chief Lib Dem councillor John Gilbert said: “It would be utterly irresponsible to remove people from this facility and lose places in an excellent care home which would then be snatched up by neighbouring boroughs. Parliament has taken away the right to enter care homes unannounced but our renewed contract has added monitoring and safeguards.”
He added: “We don’t think the coroner made any adverse comments about the standard of care at Cheverton Lodge.”
But Angela Sinclair, of Islington Pensioners’ Forum, said that in the past Age Concern had sent lay inspectors into homes. “There are government inspectors but they, as far as we know, are looking for cockroaches in the kitchen and broken fridges,” she added. “They are not concerned with the happiness of residents. Often older people are afraid of making complaints to official inspectors but they feel able to speak to lay inspectors.”
Labour councillor Joan Coupland said the contract needed examining before it was extended. “Any councillor should have the right to walk into a care home without being invited, to carry out spot checks and talk to the residents,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Barchester Healthcare said: “Cheverton Lodge has been an important part of the Islington community for nine years and we value the interest locals have in our home and our residents.”
She added that after the inquest, which found Mr Jackson died of natural causes, Cheverton Lodge had taken on board a recommendation to update training on CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation]. This had already been planned for January as part of ongoing training and has now been completed. |
 |
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
