Leicester City Council’s controversial proposal to sell off its care homes – endorsed this week – follows serious concerns raised by its suspended director of adult services in the wake of a damning internal report.

A confidential survey of care practices and management at eight of Leicester’s care homes, obtained by LocalGov.co.uk sister title The MJ, exposes a litany of failings that the authority’s suspended strategic director of adults and communities, Kim Curry, wished to address.

Leicester city mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, endorsed a report into the future of local care.(Pic:Flickr)

Ms Curry commissioned the report – conducted by a senior member of the Social Care Association (SCA), Janti Champaneri – early in 2011, amid concerns over local care safeguarding and management practices.

However, she was suspended on full pay within five months of its completion, following accusations over her management style. Ms Curry is currently taking legal advice over her suspension.

On 6 February, Leicester’s cabinet and city mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, endorsed a report into the future of local care, under which the authority will sound-out commercial interest in the management and ownership of its homes. Market-testing will determine ‘whether or not there are acceptable alternative providers who might be able to meet the council’s rigorous standards of care,’ the council reported.

However, the SCA audit contrasts starkly with the council’s claim that care standards are ‘rigorous’, and reveals that a failure to effectively manage performance at some homes had adversely affected residents’ lives.

Mr Champaneri’s study was conducted following visits between February and May 2011. Citing a lack of personalised care and ‘institutionalised routines’ within homes – as well as concerns over hygiene – he reports that ‘in some instances, even the basic needs’ of residents ‘were not being met’. More than half the homes studied revealed ‘active safeguarding issues’.

Mr Champaneri, formerly a senior manager at Birmingham City Council, concluded that low morale among care staff resulted from a ‘lack of competent and stable management teams’, which ‘over time has led to ineffective leadership within the homes’.

In one damning observation, the report states: ‘It appears Leicester City Council has moved away from a performance-management culture within its residential care sector for older people’.

In private interviews covering staff performance, one registered manager told Mr Champaneri: ‘XY should have been sacked. I did everything I could to get XY dismissed but instead, “they” just moved XY to another home to practise badly again. I fear for the residents at that home!’

Responding to the SCA study, Leicester’s interim director of adult social care, Deb Watson, told The MJ the review raised ‘low-level areas for consideration’, rather than ‘highlighting any areas for serious concern’.

‘An improvement programme on elderly people’s homes, which the council had already begun when the audits were done, was widened to address the SCA’s recommendations,’ Ms Watson added. ‘Since then, specific improvements have been completed to address a range of topics raised by the SCA, in a process involving the SCA itself.’

However, one source at Leicester pointed to a recent ‘serious incident’ involving a resident at Nuffield House – referred to in a Care Quality Commission review late last year – as evidence that issues still needed to be addressed.

The authority’s strategy document reveals the numbers of over-65s admitted to public and independent homes locally fell from 277 to 208 between 2007/08 to 2010/11. Residential care admissions across Leicester are set to continue declining, due to increased levels of home care, telecare and technology, the document explains.

But Cllr Ross Grant, an opposition councillor at Leicester, told The MJ uncertainty over the future of the homes is discouraging residents from admitting ‘either themselves or close relatives’.

Cllr Mohammed Dawood, the assistant city mayor responsible for adult social care, said there was unanimity on the need to change local care procedures. But he said reform should be ‘carefully introduced and planned over the next few years and not driven by short-term budget pressures’.

‘There is still a lot of work for us to do if we are to find the best solution for each home,’ Cllr Dawood added.

While pledging to continue with direct care provision until 2014/15, the council is also looking to convert two of its homes into intermediate facilities – to help care recipients stay in their own homes for as long as possible.

Ms Curry was suspended from her post last September. In recent weeks, Leicester has issued redundancy notices to six directors as part of a senior management review, instigated by Mayor Soulsby.