Care home was in chaos during its final months

GRIM PICTURE EMERGES OF WARRING STAFF AND NEGLECTED RESIDENTS

- By JOEL MOORE

STAFF trying to strangle each other, a resident left in urine-soaked clothes and an incompetent manager working for an "overbearing" owner, are some of the details that have emerged from a Nottingham care home in the months leading to its closure.

The revelations relate to St Augustine's Court Care Home, in St Ann's, which shut following a damning inspection by the health watchdog at the end of 2020. The home provided care for 33 residents at the time, some of whom were living with dementia.

Earlier this month, a tribunal of its then manager Giorgiana Petcu gave its verdict after 34 charges were found proven against her. These included failures to respond to residents' cries in pain, failing to investigate their bruises and presiding over an array of health and safety lapses.

However, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) proceedings found the manager, who was in post between September and December, was working with an "overbearing" owner who had taken advantage of her "placid nature" when promoting her into the position.