Families have been left “horrified” after a fine of only £4,000 was imposed on the charity owners of a home where adults with autism were abused.
That’s the view of Barbara Keeley, the shadow minister for mental health and social care.
Barbara Keeley, shadow minister for mental health and social care, has questioned the CQC over its handling of abuse at the NAS care home Mendip House
She has written to watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) over its handling of the abuse at Mendip House, in Somerset.
Keeley has complained about the fine the CQC levied on Mendip House’s owners, the National Autistic Society (NAS).
She says the fine represents just 0.1 per cent of the of the NAS’s £50m social care income.
Families ‘horrified’ by lack of prosecution
Keeley told The Guardian that families were horrified by the lack of a prosecution.
Concerns about abuse first surfaced in May 2016.
Accusations emerged of carers throwing objects at residents and swearing at them.
A whistleblower claimed one resident was slapped, made to eat chillies and repeatedly thrown into a swimming pool.
Also, a staff member is said to have put a ribbon around a resident’s neck and ridden him “like a horse”.
Residents had also funded staff meals on outings and the CQC issued its fine over this financial abuse.
But in her letter, Keeley asks why the CQC pursued just “one element of the abuse” amid “multiple reports of physical and verbal abuse”.
Lack of evidence
The watchdog’s acting chief inspector of social care is Debbie Westhead. She said the CQC decided against prosecuting due to a lack of evidence.
NAS chief executive Mark Lever has apologised for the failings.
He has stressed that the charity took “immediate action” to ensure residents were safe and the service closed in November 2016.
Staff were dismissed, but no-one was charged.
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Published: 13 March 2019
