Anger over Shrewsbury care home's ‘flawed’ inspection
A group of “outraged” families have come out in support of a care operator after it lost its appeal to have its rating reviewed by the industry regulator.
Family members of residents at the Uplands care home, in Shrewsbury, are backing its owner, Marches Care, after it appealed against the ‘good’ rating given by the Care Quality Commission.
Marches Care is claiming that the process by which the rating was given was flawed and “grossly unfair”, and it was on those grounds that the operator was appealing rather than the rating itself.
“We are outraged because we can’t see how it is possible to provide better care than that which our loved ones receive at the Uplands,” said Jill Wellings, whose husband Dick has been at the Uplands for five years.
“I worked for 37 years in general practice and investigated a lot of homes before Dick came here, and the quality of care is absolutely first class, leagues ahead of anywhere else I have encountered.
“The medical care, the kindness, the nursing care, the understanding shown by the staff - all are absolutely fantastic and I genuinely don’t see how it could be any better.
“We see the care our loved ones receive and were all fully expecting an ‘outstanding’ rating across the board.
“But while we were extremely surprised when it was only rated as ‘good’ this turned to anger when we discovered that the review was conducted by people with no clinical experience whatsoever.”
Mrs Wellings added that the group of families made the decision to go public completely independently and were not approached to do so by any staff member at the Uplands.
Her comments were echoed by Jeanette Price, whose mother Nancy has been a resident at the Uplands for nearly eight years.
“The approach of all staff - the experienced carers and the younger ones - is outstanding, and family members are also shown enormous care,” she said.
Mandy Thorn, managing director of Marches Care, said: “We didn’t ask for the support but it is enormously gratifying as these are the people who see the care our staff give their family members, day in, day out.
“I must point out that the CQC inspectors were very thorough and professional in the way they conducted their visit.
“But sadly there was not a member of the inspection team who had experience of nursing or dementia nursing services and therefore the necessary clinical insight in to our specialist type of service. We felt this was grossly unfair on our wonderful team of nurses and carers who we are confident deliver an outstanding service.
“I also find it extraordinary that there is no independent review service available for organisations or individuals who have concerns with the outcome of CQC’s inspection process.”
No one from the CQC was available for comment.
