Two private care homes in Medway are in trouble this month: The Grange care home in St Mary Hoo has been told to make urgent improvements by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and Sherwood House has gone into receivership in my ward.
Given his recent decision to privatise the three remaining publicly owned care homes in Medway, and in light of this recent news – is he confident that the Council will remain able to step in to protect vulnerable residents when private providers fail?
Minutes:
Two private care homes in Medway are in trouble this month: The Grange care home in St Mary Hoo has been told to make urgent improvements by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and Sherwood House has gone into receivership in my ward (she informed Members since she had submitted the question that Sherwood House had closed and the residents, some 14 of them many in advanced states of dementia, some of them having been there for 20 years, had to be moved).
Given his recent decision to privatise the three remaining publicly owned care homes in Medway, and in light of this recent news – is he confident that the Council will remain able to step in to protect vulnerable residents when private providers fail?
Councillor Brake responded by stating that the Grange Care Home was not in trouble. Post-inspection, an improvement notice was issued by the Care Quality Commission relating to one quality standard. Medway Council and the Care Quality Commission had worked together to ensure that the provider was clear about what they need to do and the matter was being addressed. He had visited the Grange Care Home earlier this week in the company of the Council’s Assistant Director for Adult Social Care, David Quirke-Thornton, and was pleased to meet not only the owner and the members of staff but also the residents. The home was full of happiness and he commended the Grange Care Home team for the work they did.
With regard to Sherwood House, this had gone into administration because the owner breached planning permission for an extension resulting in action being taken against him. This was totally avoidable and most disappointing. He had let the residents, relatives and staff down. The Council had been working with the administrators to try to facilitate the care home being sold as an ongoing concern. Sadly this had not been achievable and plans were in place for the residents to move to Park View, a unit at Charing House. He was pleased to advise that Charing House had offered several members of staff from Sherwood House a job, which was good news for them, but more importantly this would really help with the transition of the elderly residents and aid continuity of care. Medway Council Care Management and Commissioning would ensure that residents and their relatives were well supported throughout the move and would be on hand do deal with any queries or concerns.
Councillor Murray asked whether Councillor Brake could assure her that in the tendering process for the Council care homes or ex Council care homes as they were soon to be, that the Portfolio Holder would ensure that any company with a notice to improve or poor accounting history or any company related to either of the companies mentioned this evening would be excluded from the tendering process.
Councillor Brake responded by stating that this was a complex question, and that in a tender process, all companies would be open to submit any tender that they wish or any other services that they might be asked to tender for. Of course once that information comes in it would then be necessary to actually go through the absolute detail of every company that makes a submission to ensure that the Council got the very best for Medway. He stated that to give an assurance on any of the points raised would be at this stage an impossible task to do and whilst he was absolutely convinced that the Council’s staff would go through the proper process, he could not give assurances on each and every one of the points Councillor Murray had raised.