HC-One admit failures and will shut Whittlesey home

One of the UK's largest care providers said it would close one of its homes after admitting "shortcomings in care" and failures in local leadership.

HC-One has said it would shut The Elms in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, and admitted it had "not been able to provide the right standard of care".

The care regulator has also taken enforcement action, meaning the home must close by 23 October.

The results of an inspection are due to be published in the near future.

Cambridgeshire County Council's adults and health committee chair, Labour's Richard Howitt, said: "It all could have been avoided. We did our best to do that but I'm afraid HC-One let us down."

The Elms accommodates up to 37 people and was last year rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as requiring improvement.

Relatives of three people have raised concerns with the BBC about The Elms after their loved ones died in 2019, weeks after a meeting in which concerns were raised about "poor care".

HC-One also apologised to the family of Joyce Parrott, who died in April 2020.

Her daughter said no attempt was made to resuscitate her mother after records were mixed up with a person of the same first name.

Cambridgeshire County Council and the local NHS have been working with HC-One on improvements at The Elms for the past two years.

The council made HC-One a "provider of concern" in July, and suspended the referral of new residents to the company's five care homes in the county because of management concerns.

The council said it alerted the CQC with concerns and an inspection took place in June and July.

Mr Howitt said: "This is one of the biggest national providers... They had every opportunity to fulfil the improvement plan that we set for them, and they didn't do it."

He said the council "fully support the enforcement action subsequently taken by the CQC to cancel the registration of The Elms".

"We are deeply disappointed it has not made the required improvements," he said.

HC-One will also close the Manor House in Upwood, Cambridgeshire, which has 22 council residents.

The Manor House was rated good at its last inspection in 2020.

Mr Howitt said: "HC-One must answer for the decisions it has made. As a county council, we fully appreciate that this will be a difficult and worrying time for those affected and our focus is on making sure the residents and their families, are supported to find the care they need."

In a statement, HC-One said it was "clear we have not been able to provide the right standard of care".

"We are deeply sorry to residents and their loved ones for this," it said.

"These shortcomings in care all stem from a failure in local leadership and severe recruitment and retention challenges.

"This is a challenge that impacts the whole care sector - with the latest workforce data showing that more than 10% of all roles in the sector are currently vacant - but have been acutely felt at The Elms."

HC-One said it had invested "heavily" in increasing pay but had not "been able to attract the number of colleagues needed for us to move the home forward positively".

"Without consistent, strong leadership and a care team, we cannot deliver the standard of care that we all want for the residents living at the home," it said.

"We have very sadly concluded that it is in everyone's best interests for us to close The Elms and for residents to be supported by other homes in the local community."

With regards to the Manor House, HC-One said: "Despite our best efforts, and the investment of significant time and resource, for some time now at this home, due to specific local factors, we have struggled with recruitment and retention challenges."

It accepted the council "understandably" suspended new referrals to HC-One, and said they had a new area management team "working very hard to make sure our three other homes in the area are consistently meeting and exceeding the council's and resident's expectations, and that we do everything we can to win back their trust, and the trust of the local community."

The CQC said it was unable to comment on any enforcement action taken against the Elms. It said it was aware of HC-One's decision to close the home.

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