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Anger as personal medical records found dumped at Thackley nursing home (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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MP and councillor hit out at owners of The Knoll
6:00am Wednesday 10th August 2011 in News
Exclusive By Kathie Griffiths, T&A Reporter
Councillor Jeannette Sunderland and MP David Ward at the site
A probe was under way last night after highly-confidential medical files and records were found dumped in the grounds of an abandoned nursing home in Bradford.
Among the personal information scattered in piles of rubbish at The Knoll at Thackley were care plans, detailed health assessments and poignant photos of residents who had lived there until its sudden closure in 2008.
When Bradford District Safeguarding Adults Board shut the home down because of “risks to residents”, a total of 27 residents – some bedridden, confused and suffering from dementia – had to be transferred to several other homes.
The recovered records, believed to have been dumped by vandals and thieves who have ransacked the home, are now being stored safely by ward Councillor Jeanette Sunderland. She was alerted by residents fed up of living next door to the run-down home.
Coun Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) has now reported the home’s Leeds-based owners ADL to nursing home and data protection watchdogs calling for action.
The company is still advertising The Knoll on its website as a leafy 43-bed nursing care home for 42 elderly patients.
Coun Sunderland said: “I have asked both the Care Quality Commission and Information Commissioner’s Office to take action against ADL for the dreadful way they are managing private and confidential information.
“I have collected the files and photographs and have them stored safely. I will be sending them to the Director of Adult Care in Bradford. I hope that the weight of the law will be used against this company.”
Constituency MP David Ward said: “ADL is behaving in a cavalier way with personal records and showing a complete disregard for the feelings of former residents and their families.
“I was shocked to see pictures of former residents, enjoying life, being left to thieves and vandals. I am angry that the company has not responded to local residents who have raised concerns about safety and security at the abandoned home.
“I have written directly to Sir William Wells, the chairman of the board, asking him to personally step in and take responsibility for this disgrace.”
Moira Wilson, Bradford Council’s strategic director for adult services, said the authority was now carrying out its own inquiry and would make sure that that any confidential records are now dealt with appropriately.
She said: “The Council expects records belonging to individuals to stay with the individual to provide continuity of care.
“Council contracts with private providers requires providers to adhere to both data protection and confidentiality policies. We were unaware of any records being left behind and it is the responsibility of the private company to ensure all records have been moved to the new provider or destroyed.”
A Care Quality Commission spokesman also said the responsibility of the files found discarded at the home belongs to The Knoll’s owners.
No one at ADL would comment to the Telegraph & Argus.
Comments(4)
emmasal123
says...
11:25am Wed 10 Aug 11
MontyLeMar wrote:MontyLeMar, yes it did close due to poor care. The residents were given only a couple of hours to find somewhere else, as it was a very sudden closure. My great-nan was there. Im disguisted that these vandals could have seen and read her personal details. Its scary.
This is absolutely disgusting behaviour by ADL. It looks as if Sir William Wells is in fact the chairman of a Fred Karno type organisation, he definitely needs a custard pie in the face. Go on to the ADL plc website and one of the things you see is the share price movement. It's obvious they think giving shareholders value for money is one of their main priorities. Fair enough seeing many things don't happen without shareholder input. But I wonder if the shareholders realise that ADL is allowing a property, which must be valued at close to half a million pounds, to turn into a ruin. Where's the shareholder value in that?
.
I also wonder if while they are maximising shareholder value they are minimising care costs? Leaving personal records to be read and scattered about the grounds by vandals is disgusting. Maybe we should thank the vandals for showing us this? I'd like to know why they closed the home. Did the council move residents out because of poor care?
In the mean time they should get the property secured and then sold, perfect for converting into flats, so the locals can get some peace.
MontyLeMar
says...
11:56am Wed 10 Aug 11
emmasal123
says...
2:26pm Wed 10 Aug 11
The home had already had warnings about closure but failed to improve the standard of the care.
MontyLeMar says...
9:27am Wed 10 Aug 11
.
I also wonder if while they are maximising shareholder value they are minimising care costs? Leaving personal records to be read and scattered about the grounds by vandals is disgusting. Maybe we should thank the vandals for showing us this? I'd like to know why they closed the home. Did the council move residents out because of poor care?
In the mean time they should get the property secured and then sold, perfect for converting into flats, so the locals can get some peace.