Failing care homes allowed to remain open

Care homes for the elderly which were officially closed down because they were failing have nevertheless remained in operation, a BBC investigation has revealed.

Despite Care Quality Commission (CQC) claims that 93 homes and agencies were close in the past 12 months, a dozen were found still operating under the same ownership.

The CQC did admit to errors, but reaffirmed its determination to end the risk of neglect or abuse.

However, there were cases where a care home closed down and then reopened on the same day, and reports on failures were then removed from CQC’s website, thus denying potential residents and their families the chance to read them.

Some care homes were not even aware that they had been on a list of closed homes.

The closures were announced in September by the CQC, saying 42 had been closed down due to enforcement action and another 51 had closed voluntarily after poor reports.

However, the BBC discovered that some homes had remained open despite concerns.

Director of operations for CQC, Amanda Sherlock, said that mistakes had been made. She said: "I don't think it's inaccurate that we're getting tough on poor services.

"Indeed, only this week we have got two organisations that are being escalated up into formal enforcement activity. There are a variety of activities and actions the CQC is following up on a daily basis."

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