BUPA have consistently denied that the disclosures of abuse were genuine, this denial continues to the present day, BUPA managers, Des Kelly and Carole Newton met with Social Services on May 13th 1999, this meeting was minuted by the Council Clerk and part of these minutes were disclosed in evidence at the Tribunal hearing, however the complete minutes of that meeting have only now been obtained under The Freedom of Information Act.

• These Minutes confirm the following crucial points. Firstly that BUPA were aware in May '99 that we were telling the truth about the abuse of residents.
• That their subsequent stance of absolute denial calls into question the integrity and culture of this company.
• That the evidence pleaded by this company in a court of law amounts to perjury.
• That the Chief Executive was informed of events and the rot goes all the way to the top.

The following extracts are taken directly from the minutes of May 13th 1999

(Monica, Social Services) “ Stated Carole Jones had told her she is leaving”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said that Carole Jones hasn’t denied things have happened, he went on to say that Carole wasn’t able to substantiate the complaints and allegations made to Social Services”

(Dick, Social Services ) “ Said that of the 36 staff, we have 20 who have made allegations”

(Monica, Social Services) “ Said we are concerned that it is now more then the first seven staff who have made allegations and that there is paper evidence to substantiate it”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ When all added together there are grounds for concerns, however individual items need to have facts and be proved”

(Dick, Social Services) “ With the volume of incidents and witnesses there is sufficient evidence for consideration by the Boroughs lawyers for potential de-registration of the home, we are reluctant to go down the legal channel but will do if we are forced to do so”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said if Police say they cannot provide beyond a reasonable doubt and cannot prove the allegations this will not be reasonably resolved”

(Joan, Social Services) “ Said there was one theme that was evident throughout all statements made by staff that they had to summon up the courage to go to Carole Jones and not to be seen by Maria Green, they didn’t get any feedback from Carole, you said Carole Jones investigated some complaints, but we found no documentation of this, staff would have felt very uncomfortable then to go back to Carole Jones with other allegations, they all felt they would be punished”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Stated that Carole Jones responses when complaints were raised was inadequate, if she had responded how people wished we wouldn’t be here now, he went on to say he hadn’t fully read the report but he could see no collusion in abuse with managers, Carole didn’t act correctly so some things must be her responsibility, or are you saying she knew abuse was occurring?”

(Dick, Social Services) “ Said he finds it hard to believe that the Manager and Deputy Manager who sit in the same office couldn’t have known about it. Collusion could have occurred between the two Marias, Maria Keenahans absence hasn’t stopped all the abuse, some abuse has been picked up by other staff, i.e. shouting. The underlying faults there were with Maria may arise again as staff were trained by her and may continue”

(Joan, Social Services) “ said about Carole telling staff to alter medication sheets where medication had been administered incorrectly or not administered at all, she carried on to say staff refused to alter paperwork, this would have covered up mistakes made, so this is collusion”

(Carole Newton, BUPA) “ Said she was aware of the problems and Carole Jones did ask for advice”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said she, Carole Jones hasn’t shown any professional judgement”

(Mike, Social Services) “ Asked, does this not show she is an unfit person?”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said we are all allowed to make a mistake”

(Monica, Social Services) “ Said Carole was maybe treating the allegations as gossip and this is the mistake she made. All these complaints? She should have realised they were not gossip, It took a great deal of courage for the first seven people to come forward, they were very distressed and willing to take the risk of losing their jobs because they were concerned about the residents”

(Dick, Social Services) “ Said when he questioned some staff they were quite clear about dates and times and that they had informed Carole Jones, however when I questioned Carole Jones she said she could not remember, she seemed to be holding back and protecting, it doesn’t go down well if the manager is saying she cannot remember”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said he wasn’t involved with Carole Jones appointment but is surprised she could become a Manager with no experience, Des went on to say, my sense here is we cant win, we have two groups of staff and we cant satisfy both”

(Mike, Social Services) “ Said its not about winning but about risk and consequences”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said with regards this draft report, there are lots of things here we will have to put an action plan together”

(Dick, Social Services) “ Said I think we should put this to the Councils solicitors, this will take some time, however if it all suddenly gets worse we could go for a section 11 emergency closure”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said, from a BUPA perspective as soon as legal come into this, BUPA will become very defensive, it almost doesn’t matter what has gone on, Des continued to say that he would want this to go to the Chief Executive of BUPA, to establish an action plan to put this right”

(Dick, Social Services) “ Said, what are BUPA thinking of doing with regard the management structure?”

(Mike, Social Services) “ Said he feels the manager has lost all credibility, whether justified or not and if BUPA do not broadcast reasonable actions to staff immediately it will hit the press”

(Dick, Social Services) “ Said there has been an irretrievable breakdown between staff and management and he couldn’t see a way forward unless this is tackled, looking at Maria Green no one approached her with problems, this appears to be because she has proven to everyone she is not head of care, her credibility is zero and staff fear her because she does the rotas”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said there is no question we need to look at the management of the home”

(Dick, Social Services) “ Said staff who have now returned from sick leave have shown a commitment to the residents, they now need to see a manager in position who they can access and who will listen to them, showing there is power other then behind closed doors”

(Monica, Social Services) “ Said she is worried if, Carole Jones and Maria Green are left there could be further damage, they could be provoked and the experience would just cause more stress”

(Mike, Social Services) “ Asked Des what timescale were they thinking of with regard to Carole Jones?”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said there is to be a transfer of homes in the Staffordshire area and that Carole Jones had made it known she is keen to transfer there, am not aware of a vacancy and the homes are not BUPA’s until October, he went on to say her transfer would have been straightforward, however the situation is different now”

(Dick, Social Services) “ Said there is a group of individuals at Isard who Social Services feel Carole Jones doesn’t stand a chance of managing them now even with quality teams and the best will in the world, you have staff here who are committed to residents and who have lost all respect with management”

(Joan, Social Services) “Said, it appears one of the cleaning staff has hit one of these staff, she went on to say there needs to be urgent action taken to quieten things down or we will have Lawyers, Press and M.Ps involved, we can work with yourselves and staff and a new manager and work it through together”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ There is no doubt there are a group of staff taking advantage of management who are powerless to act”

(Monica, Social Services) “ Asked Des if he would meet with all seven staff tomorrow”

(Des Kelly, BUPA) “ Said he thinks they need to meet him and with hindsight he should have had a meeting at the outset”

EXTRACTS FROM LETTER DATED 5TH OF JULY 99 FROM DICK TURNER TO JON CHANNON COUNCIL SOLICITOR

“Overall it is the large number of incidents or the cumulative nature of events that were apparently reported to Carole Jones which forms the basis for my recommending that de-registration proceedings commence against her”

“ Attached is a further summary which focuses on the issue of Carole Jones degree of Culpability, an example of the additional statements I have obtained from the core seven staff, I have taken more statements in order for them to be definitive, they are extremely detailed and the contents cannot be overlooked in terms of our making application to de-register Carole Jones”

“ It is now July 5th, if we delay further we could be accused of unnecessarily delaying the proceedings and as a result prejudicing any further legal action taken against the registered manager, we could even be accused that action was not taken because it was a council owned home”

“ It is not my intention to pillory Carole Jones, however it appears from the information we have to hand that she was clearly aware of the whole sequence of events and failed to take steps to deal with them, which in our view makes her unfit as a registered manager”

EXTRACTS FROM LETTER TO DICK TURNER FROM COUNCIL SOLICITOR DATED 14TH OF JUNE '99

“ At this stage I do question if Carole Jones failings are so great she should suffer the ignominy of de-registration with all that entails, however I notice Dick Turner is concerned that BUPA have temporarily appointed Maureen Worley, who is suspended, to replace Maria Green, and this suggests the wider management structures of BUPA are suspect, it also raises the question if we can have confidence in the wider management structures in the Home”

“ In saying all this I am conscious of the fact that I am engaged with Social Services in a number of initiatives involving BUPA, where it will be relevant we maintain good working relations, therefore to that extent it may be felt that I have something of a conflict of interest in giving independent advice to ( Dick Turners) section”

EXTRACTS FROM LETTER DATED 21ST OF JULY 1999 FROM RICHARD TURNER TO P. ROBERTSON COUNCIL SOLICITOR

“ I feel I need to assist you in indicating that there are currently seven members of staff at Isard Hs who gave witness statements in good faith in the belief they were protected under The Public Interest Disclosure Act, they came to us, Social Services, under their own volition and had already written fairly lengthy statements about the allegations of abuse and poor conduct at Isard Hs. This group of seven went sick because they alleged they were being harassed when they tried to return to work at Isard Hs a few wks after providing more in-depth evidence, it is my opinion that BUPA should have dealt with this group in a more sympathetic manner, then we Social Services have witnessed so far. As a result this group are on sick leave receiving £50 a week state sick pay, which obviously does not meet their upkeep and as such have employed solicitors with regard to their employment rights resulting from disclosures. Although I have outlined their position it is not the concern of Social Services as to their welfare other then the fact they have come forward as primary witnesses in this case and therefore should be afforded some degree of consideration, which as I understand it was the intention of The Public Interest Disclosure Act, i.e. to protect Whistle-Blowers”

“ To conclude it is our opinion as the inquiry team, that Carole Jones, has had a major part to play in this matter and could be considered Culpable in view of the fact she was aware of the circumstances”

LETTER DATED 27TH OF JULY '99 FROM RICHARD TURNER SOCIAL SERVICES TO DES KELLY OF BUPA

“ To be clear this report, should be considered a draft report only and although it is suggested Carole Jones should not be de-registered this must remain the subject of legal advice”

“Should Mrs Jones resign voluntary she is likely to encounter difficulty in obtaining further registration as a manager in another authority if, the inquiry is not concluded at Isard Hs or the final outcome of the inquiry suggests Mrs Jones is not equipped or has sufficient integrity to warrant her approval”

SUMMARY

No further inquiry report was published after July 27th 1999, the opinion of the entire official inquiry team was completely ignored, Carole Jones had no problem in obtaining registration as fit to run an elderly care home in Shropshire, there was nothing on her Employment record to debar her from such a position. To this day BUPA continue to publicly call us liars, if that stance should ever change it will not be because BUPA have changed but because they have been exposed.

Eileen Chubb - The BUPA Seven