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Police launch investigation into treatment of residents at Sanctuary care home
The police have launched an investigation into the treatment of residents at a nursing home in central London managed by the care arm of housing association Sanctuary.
The Metropolitan Police said it had been made aware of allegations on 22 October relating to the treatment of residents at Sanctuary Care’s Garside House Nursing Home in Pimlico.
Inside Housing does not have details about the specific nature of the allegations.
The police are now working with Westminster City Council and the Care Quality Commission to investigate, but no arrests have been made at this stage.
Westminster Council confirmed that “several members of staff at the home have been suspended”, and that it has brought in council staff to manage and oversee the care being provided at the home during the investigation.
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.
It is one of five care homes managed by Sanctuary in Westminster. Other homes include Westmead Residential Care Home, Athlone House Nursing Home and Carlton Dene Residential Care Home. The organisation’s eight-year contract to run these homes began in 2015.
Sanctuary said that while it could not comment on an ongoing investigation, it took these concerns “very seriously”.
It added: “We will continue to enrich the lives of every resident living in these homes.”
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In March this year, an inspection of Garside House Nursing Home by the Care Quality Commission rated the service provided at the home as “requiring improvement”.
The report found that “people’s care and treatment and support did not always achieve good outcomes or was inconsistent”, while concluding that residents “did not always feel cared for or treated with dignity and respect”.
The report also found that people “were not consistently receiving care that considered and responded to their physical, psychological and emotional needs”.
The care home was regarded as safe, and the CQC concluded that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.
Labour councillors in the borough have now called for Sanctuary to be removed from their current care home deals with Westminster Council, which is Conservative-led.
The Labour councillors will put forward a motion to the cabinet on Wednesday, calling for the council to remove Sanctuary from operational control of the Westminster care homes as soon as is legally possible and to restore direct council management of council-owned care homes.
Adam Hug, Westminster’s Labour group council leader, called the allegations “deeply concerning” and said it was clear the arrangements were “not fit for purpose”.
Heather Acton, cabinet member for family services and public health at the council, said: “Given the ongoing police investigation, we are not able to comment further at this stage, nor prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
“We shall be considering carefully the next steps on future arrangements. The safety and care of our residents remains our priority.”
She added: “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.
“We’ve also made sure those at the home and their family members are being kept informed.”
