State-funded care found to be putting poor patients at risk

The first time Martina Hanouskova heard about her mother Anna's pressure sore was when she dropped by to see her in Dane View nursing home in Leicester. She had visited her in the previous two days, but staff at the private home had not mentioned the ulcer, which had become so severe that Anna couldn't leave her bed.

- Tom Wall

She then returned every day and warned staff that Anna, whose 24/7 care was funded by her local authority, was looking increasingly unwell and dehydrated. She was admitted to hospital in January 2023 with sepsis and died 17 days later.

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection later that year found the care provided by Dane View was inadequate, with residents unsafe and at risk of harm. One was given more than their prescribed dose of medicine, and a faeces-stained chair was left in the stairwell. Another resident had an accident while waiting for support to go to the toilet.

Dane View which is owned by the Bayswood Care Group - was only moved out of a regime of additional monitoring and supervision this year.

A new Oxford University study, which has been shared with The Observer, reveals such care failings are far more common in for-profit homes looking after state-funded residents, whereas for-profit homes caring for better-off self-funded residents are more likely to receive good or outstanding ratings.