“ On the 20th of April 1999 I received a telephone call from Monica Handscomb of R.I.D
( Social Services) Monica was a former manager at Isard House but she had worked in this capacity prior to my commencing employment with the respondent ( BUPA) so I did not know her then. She requested that both Des Kelly and myself to attend a meeting at the Civic Centre as serious allegations had been made in respect of one of Bromley’s Homes. She did not expand on the allegation, I agreed to attend and duly did so that afternoon, Des Kelly was not able to make it due to his being to far away”

“ There were four R.I.D ( Social Services) officers present, Dick Turner, Monica Handscomb, Joan Ford and Mike Tucker. I was advised that allegations had been made by two staff from Isard House regarding allegations of abuse of residents. The only allegations mentioned were the alleged eating of residents sweets and reading residents newspapers, it was explained to me that the police had been informed and that an investigation was taking place, the R.I.D ( Social Services) officer told me that the allegations had been made against Maria Keenaghan, she was the very last person in the home I would have expected to have been accused of these matters”

“ I knew Maria fairly well from the time I spent at Isard prior to Carole Jones appointment. Maria did a lot of late shifts and was often in charge in the afternoon when I was there, we spoke often and I would ask her about company policies and procedures when I first joined. She came over as a very caring and kind person, I observed that she was softly spoken and gentle person who showed empathy and respect for the residents, I never had any cause for concern”

“ When I came out of the meeting I was left wondering what all the fuss was about, before I left they asked me to suspend Maria which I did, they indicated there was more to it but would not expand, they only mentioned Maria Keenaghan with references to the allegations and they made no mention of who had made the complaints”

“ The day after I was notified of the investigation I received a telephone call from Dick Turner ( Social Services Inspector) requesting that I meet with the them on the road at the top of Glebe House Drive, i.e. 250 yards from the entrance to Isard House but out of site of the home at 10.35am, this struck me as a very odd request but they clearly did not want me to arrive at the home before them but they nevertheless wanted me to be there when they arrived, it was real cloak and dagger stuff, I duly met with them at the top of the road and followed them to Isard house, it was explained to Carol Jones ( Home Manager) that an investigation would be commencing and that the staff would be interviewed, Carole agreed that they could use the flat above unit 3 for their interviews”

“ I was never aware of the abuse allegations that were made to Social Services, the applicants ( BUPA Seven) never brought any of these matters to my attention despite the fact that I visited the home on a regular basis and it would have been appropriate for them to have done so, the grievance procedure of which all the BUPA Seven would or should have been aware of was not followed. Myself and Des Kelly ( BUPA Director) attended the Civic Centre for an interim update on the Social Services investigation on the 13th of May 1999, we were very concerned following the updates as there seemed to be no evidence to back up the allegations that had been made and yet Social Services appear to be accepting them without question, we kept asking them where the evidence was, Dick Turner seemed like a cat on hot bricks, he said this is only an interim finding, if you meet them ( The BUPA Seven ) you will understand more, Dick appeared to want Des to meet with Eileen Chubb and Karen Hook, this struck me as a very odd thing to do as it appears as though he was bending over backwards to help the applicants ( BUPA Seven) Des Kelly did agree to meet with two of the applicants although when he attended the meeting all seven were there, Dick immediately went and phoned Eileen and said he would arrange a meeting on neutral territory”

THE CROSS EXAMINATION OF CAROL NEWTON ( BUPA REGIONAL MANAGER) BY COUNSEL FOR THE APPLICANTS ( BUPA SEVEN) AT THE ASHFORD EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL.

Q. Were you aware of the abuse on unit 3?

C.N. I was not aware, I spoke to the residents and staff.

Q. When did you first become aware there were problems at Isard House?

C.N. When I was phoned by the inspection unit and told to meet with them outside the home on April 21st and I entered the home with them.

Q. So you were told serious allegations of abuse had been made?

C.N No I was told sweets had been stolen.

Q. Serious allegations had been made?

C.N. I was told residents sweets had been stolen and I left the meeting wondering what all the fuss was about.

Q. What was all the fuss about? Mr Turner has given evidence that serious allegations of abuse had been made and that you were informed of this?

C.N.

Q. What did you think of Maria Keenaghan?

C.N. I thought she was softly spoken and a very kind person.

Q. So when you told about the allegations against her you were very surprised?

C.N. Yes I was very surprised.

Q. I put it to you Mrs Newton that you had a closed mind from the start about any possibility that the abuse had taken place?

C.N. I knew Maria Keenaghan very well, I had spent a lot of time at Isard House in the evenings when the home was without a manager, she was very helpful I do not think she could have been involved in abuse.

Q. Lee Elkins says in his evidence that you took him into the Telephone room and told him to remember when he was interviewed that Maria Keenaghan had done nothing wrong?

C.N That’s not true, I just wanted to reassure him.

Q. You placed Maria Keenaghan at Anne Sutherland House?

C.N After an internal investigation it was decided to place Maria Keenaghan there.

Q. I refer you to the witness statement of Richard Turner ( Social Services) were you aware that he was opposed to this?

C.N. We had an internal investigation and decided it was suitable to return Maria to work.

Q. Maria Keenaghan was stopped from working at Anne Sutherland house around the August Bank Holiday, were you aware of that?

C.N. Yes Mr Kelly had spoken to me about placing her at Faircroft.

Q. So you went ahead and placed her at Faircroft?

C.N. Yes it was suitable.

Q. Were you aware that the rotas in this home were tampered with?

C.N A member of the staff panicked.

Q. Why would they panic if it was all above board?

C.N, They just panicked that’s all.

Q. Were you involved with tampering with the records in order to hide Maria Keenaghan?

C.N. No.

Q. But you were aware the R.I.D ( Social Services ) were opposed to her working?

C.N We had an internal investigation and saw no reason to keep her suspended.

Q. Lets look at the independent pharmacists report, do you agree in retrospect that there were serious failings in administration of medication?

C.N. No its just sloppy practice.

WITNESS STATEMENT OF CAROLE JONES MANAGER OF ISARD HOUSE CARE HOME

“ Given the seriousness of some of the allegations I clearly would have remembered them if they had been brought to my attention and would have taken action. In relation to their complaints none of the applicants ( BUPA Seven) to my knowledge followed the grievance procedures which they were aware of. Eileen Chubb said again, I cant remember the date that D.H a resident had not been given medication to prevent constipation, when I looked into this it turned out that this medication was to be given as and when required as was indicated on the M.A.R sheets ( Medication Administration Records) for that patient, it stated P.R.N a medical abbreviation which means as and when required. Eileen Chubb would have had medical training and should have known what this meant”

“ The G.P for Isard House Dr Wragg was very keen for us to use dietary methods to maintain regular bowel movements for the residents, such as fruit, brown bread, bran and prunes to reduce the use of more abrasive apherient medicine. It was simply not the case that D.H should have been given this medication on a strictly daily basis as Eileen was suggesting. Eileen complained that the G.P had not been called out to residents when Maria Keenaghan was on call, however I had issued a directive via the teamleader senior care meetings that the G.P should only be called out in an emergency, in the same way that people would call a doctor out at home for a home visit”

“ Our G.P Dr Wragg had expressed concerns to me that some of the call outs taken from Eileen Chubb and others could easily and safely waited until his twice weekly surgery. Prior to commencing her care role at Isard which I believe was her first care role, Eileen had been a retail manager for a number of years and lacked the experience to be able to judge when a call out was necessary and consequently she would use this resource unnecessarily”

“ Eileen had also brought up the issue of D.H and the alleged withholding of medication for constipation despite the fact that I had explained that the medical sheets show that this was only to be given as and when required, on the 26th of March 1999 Eileen complained to me verbally that the medication trolley on unit 3 contained medication that was not prescribed and that medication was being withheld from residents, I asked her not to repeat this to anyone and to let me look into it”

“ Having informed no one of my intentions I visited unit 3 obtained the keys and requested that Maria Keenaghan joined me whilst I carried out a full audit on unit 3 medication, Eileen appeared to have confidence in my ability to resolve the situation and agreed to give me space to look into her complaints. Over the next few days I made frequent visits to unit 3 examining care plans and looking at M.A.R sheets, observing medication rounds and speaking to staff and observing residents behaviour patterns to see if they had any concerns, there were no items of medication which were not prescribed, there were simple housekeeping issues, i.e. several P.R.N as and when required medicines and creams that hadn’t been required for sometime were still being retained on the drugs trolley, for example constipation aids where careful attention to residents diets had sorted out the problems”

“ I consulted the G.P to see if the prescriptions could be removed from the M.A.R sheets, the drugs were then discontinued and returned to the pharmacy, I could find no evidence of medication being withheld, however I found sleeping residents who had not had their A.M tablets, the time by then was 11,am, staff sometimes allowed the residents to continue sleeping and would wait until they awoke before giving them their medication”

“ I expressed my disapproval of this practice and informed Maria that to ensure all drugs were given at the appropriate time, I informed Eileen Chubb of my findings and explained what I had found, she was most upset with me and I don’t know why I think she was disappointed with the fact that I had found very little of concern certainly nothing to suggest any abuse of residents and that there was no need for me to take any action against Maria”

“ On the 7th of May 1999 I received a phone call from Carole Newton ( BUPA Regional Manager) instructing me to suspend Sarah Conway following allegations having been made against her, I discussed this with Maria Green my deputy and we decided that it would be unwise to let Sarah leave the building alone after the suspension, we therefore decided to release Anne Davidson early to accompany Sarah and then lend her some support. I then suspended Sarah on full pay, she was predictably distraught and it was a very emotional scene, I believe this is the worst thing that I had ever had to do and I was left feeling very angry and helpless”

“ It is true that I did say to Lee Elkin that I hope that those people who had made the allegations could sleep at night because poor Maria Keenaghan couldn’t. I did not believe that he was involved, I did not stare at him as he alleged, on the 9th of July I was interviewed by Dick Turner ( Social Services) and Monica Handscomb, on the subject of Maria Keenaghan, I was handed two statements, the first was from Linda Clark, who had described how Maria had allegedly kicked a resident in the ankle, the statement went on to describe how Linda Clark had allegedly reported the incident to me and what my reply was, I have absolutely no recollection of this incident”

“ On the 7th of August 1999, I received a letter from BUPA Human Resources asking me to attend an investigation interview, I was subsequently asked to attend a disciplinary hearing on 2nd of September, the outcome of this disciplinary hearing was that no action was to be taken against me ( By BUPA) alleged conversations with me never took place, the words used in that statement were words that I would not have used in this context and neither was the terminology mine, it was however the way I would expect Linda Clark to speak, the second statement describes how Eileen Chubb allegedly saw Maria Keenaghan pushing a resident F.C in the small of her back in through a doorway, the statement describes how Eileen had glanced to her left and supposedly observed Maria pushing F.C, it appeared to me that it could just as easily have been the case Maria was simply guiding the resident, again this statement describes the supposed incident and how it was supposedly reported to me and our following conversations”

CROSS EXAMINATION OF CAROL JONES ( HOME MANAGER ISARD HOUSE) BY COUNCIL FOR THE APPLICANTS ( BUPA SEVEN) AT THE ASHFORD EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL

Q. Did you at any time care for E.M.I residents prior to working at Isard House?

C.J. No.

Q. So in fact Eileen Chubb had more experience then you in care of dementia resident?

C.J. Yes.

Q. Lets look at your statement paragraphs 31 to 33,

C.J. Yes that is correct.

Q. But that’s not true is it?

C.J. Yes

Q. A subsequent pharmacists report found plenty wrong and the M.A.R sheets themselves show plenty wrong, very wrong?

C.J. I was told the drugs were not right and much like registration I went and took a snapshot view of things.

Q. That’s not what your witness statement is saying, lets read those paragraphs again.

C.J It was a satisfactory inspection.

Q. But you state there were only some housekeeping issues?

C.J. Yes.

Q. That’s simply not true is it?

C.J At the time its what I found.

Q. Lets look at the M.A.R sheets for E.P.

C.J Yes

Q. This sheet of E.P she is quite clearly not being given the right dosage is she?

C.J I can't explain it.

Q. The dose prescribed by the G.P is much lower is it not?

C.J No

Q. What does it state?

C.J Ten to twenty mls.

Q. What has been given?

C.J. thirty mls.

Q. Everyday?

C.J Yes.

Q. Three times every day?

C.J. Yes.

Q. This next sheet is in fact a copy of the same sheet with a sticker over the existing G.Ps instructions?

C.J Yes.

Q. How did that happen?

C.J. I don’t know.

Q. Then tell me what should have happened?

C.J. The G.P should have signed to authorise the discontinued dosage and the sticker should have been placed in one of the empty spaces.

Q. But that’s not what happened here is it?

C.J. No the G.P must have forgotten to sign the sheet.

Q. So the G.P gave new instructions and forgot to sign the sheet and issued a new label which was then accidentally stuck over the evidence of overdosing, is that what you are telling me?

C.J. That could have happened.

Q. Then explain the date on the label?

C.J. No reply.

Q. Explain how a old label could cancel out a G.Ps instructions?

C.J I cant.

Q. So the overdosing continued with a label that did not authorise the dose given in the past or future doses?

C.J. Yes

Q. Eileen Chubb reported this overdosing and then a new label appears covering up the overdosing?

C.J. I just cant explain that.

Q. But this was reported to you when Eileen Chubb told you medication was not being correctly given and being withheld?

C.J I did a snapshot inspection, much the same as registration do.

Q. But not when registration were investigating specific details of alleged medication abuse?

C.J, I did an inspection.

Q. But you found nothing wrong, that is your evidence?

C.J, Yes.

Q. Lets look at the earlier E.P sheets that was also reported to you, what about the overdosing here?

C.J. I rung the G.P to change the dose.

Q. You told us during your last cross examination in July that you did not even think it necessary to check on E.P?

C.J. The sheet was authorised by the G.P.

Q. Retrospectively of the overdosing?

C.J. no reply.

Q. Answer the question Mrs Jones?

C.J. Yes.

Q. So much earlier in the year a similar incident of a serious overdosing takes place and is reported to you and then Eileen Chubb reports to you again there is medication abuse and you fail to see anything is wrong?

C.J. I looked at the sheet.

Q. That’s what worries me, the sheets quite clearly show that not only were there things wrong, things were very wrong, weren’t they?

C.J. No

Q. Answer the question?

C.J. I cant explain it.

Q. Look at Eileen Chubb’s statement, paragraph 14?

C.J Yes

Q. Look at Eileen Chubb’s statement, paragraph 31, is this the first E.P incident?

C.J Yes.

Q. Look at Eileen Chubb’s statement 38 and 45?, Eileen Chubb was right to report these concerns to you wasn’t she?

C.J I cant say.

Q. Mrs Jones looking at the medication abuse on these sheets, Eileen Chubb was right to report this wasn’t she?

C.J Yes.

Q. But you took no action?

C.J. I did an inspection of the unit as I said.

Q. But you found nothing wrong did you?

C.J. No.

Q. Lets look at the M.A.R sheets for D.H, this sheet states that codanth should be given every night, is that correct?

C.J Yes.

Q. Has it been given?

C.J. No.

Q. Why is that?

C.J. I don’t know.

Q. This sheet says the same thing?

C.J. Yes.

Q. Eileen Chubb reported this to you?

C.J. Yes and I investigated.

Q. But you failed to see this as well?

C.J. I did a snapshot inspection.

Q. Was D.H constipated?

C.J No she was not.

Q. Then explain this sheet just before D.H was admitted to hospital with severe stomach pain, she has been prescribed codanth by the G.P?

C.J I don’t know.

Q. Is it there on the sheet?

C.J. Yes

Q. Did the G.P think D.H was constipated?

C.J. Yes its possible.

Q. Looking at these sheets Eileen Chubb was right to be concerned wasn’t she?

C.J I suppose so.

Q. Going back to your own statement you say none of the abuse the applicants allege was ever reported to you?

C.J That is correct.

Q. Lets look at the statement of Maria Keenaghan, paragraph 60, Abs daughter removed her from the home and told you it was because her mother was being abused?

C.J. Yes.

Q. Why was that?

C.J. She was unhappy with her care.

Q. She sent you this letter?

C.J. Yes

Q. Look at Maria Keenahans statement, paragraph 94 to 96, Maria Keenaghan says here the kicking of the resident B.M was reported to you?

C.J. No it was not.

Q. You have a high opinion of Maria Keenaghan and yet are you saying now she is lying?

C.J. It was not reported to me.

Q. You have said Maria Keenaghan is honest, kind and generous and you are now saying she is a liar?

C.J. It was not reported to me.

Q. Going back to your high opinion of Maria Keenaghan did you ever consider the possibility that she was abusing residents?

C.J. No she would never have done that.

Q. But you cant explain why she would say what she has stated here in paragraphs 94 to 96 of her statement?

C.J. It was not reported to me as I said.

Q. Is this a lie?

C.J. She is mistaken.

Q. Are you lying about this?

C.J. No

Q. Renee Warwick reported abuse to you also?

C.J. No

Q. Renee Warwick in fact demoted herself because of the abuse?

C.J. No I was going to demote her anyway.

Q. Any file notes to support this?

C.J. No

Q. So you have not a single piece of evidence in support of this?

C.J. No

Q. Its simply not credible is it Mrs Jones?

C.J. Its True.

Q. What would be the applicants ( BUPA Seven) motive for making all this up?

C.J. I really cant say.

Q. Yet all seven of the applicants risked going outside the home to report the abuse, why would they do this if they were not telling the truth?

C.J. I really cant say.

Q. Did you keep an open mind about the investigation?

C,J. Yes.

Q. But you speak very highly of Maria Keenaghan and thought she was innocent?

C.J. Yes.

Q. That’s not keeping an open mind is it?

C.J. No Reply,,, Then no.

Q. What’s your opinion of the hairdresser at the home?

C.J. She does her job very well.

Q. Would you say she was honest?

C.J. Yes I would.

Q. look at the statement of the hairdresser, why would she say that?

C.J. I cant say.

Q. Your opinion of Sarah Conway is also high, do you think she could have abused residents?

C.J. No she may have been a little exuberant at times.

Q. Exuberant?

C.J. Yes

Q. look at the hairdressers statement, is that your idea of exuberance?

C.J. No.

Q. Is this abuse?

C.J. Yes.

Q. So what did you think about Sarah Conway being exuberant?

C.J. No Reply.

Q. You say in your statement that when you had to suspend Sarah Conway, it was hardest thing you have ever had to witness?

C.J. Yes it was very upsetting.

Q. As a professional nurse you must have seen many upsetting things, you say suspending Sarah Conway was the worst?

C.J. It was very upsetting.

Q. but Sarah Conway was suspended on the grounds that she may have been implicated in the abuse of residents?

C.J. yes, but it was very hard.

Q. I put it to you Mrs Jones that you had a closed mind to any possibility that residents were being abused and you showed your anger at those who had made the allegations by instigating the resentment against the applicants?

C.J. No

THE WITNESS STATEMENT AND CROSS EXAMINATION OF DES KELLY (BUPA DIRECTOR) ON THE ABUSE OF RESIDENTS.

“ Interviews were held at Kingswood house on the 10th and 11th of August 1999, Ian irland head of quality assurance visited Isard house on both these days. On the 16th of August 1999, Nicky Titterington and I met with Ian Irland to discuss the findings of our investigation and agree ways forward. The outcome was as follows,
Maria keenahan, having interviewed Maria on the basis of the explanations that she gave us, which appeared to us to be entirely reasonable, we found that their was no justification in keeping her away from work, there was nothing in her responses which we felt could constitute gross misconduct. We therefore made a judgement about the most appropriate way forward, these were to demote her from teamleader to senior carer, to transfer her to another home, provide her with additional training and supervision, with personal development plan to be reviewed after six months”

“ Maria Green a disciplinary meeting was recommended to establish facts regarding management, medication administration and laundry, the outcome of which was a recommendation that no action was to be taken against her. Carol Jones disciplinary meeting was recommended to establish facts regarding management, the outcome of which was a recommendation that no action be taken against her, Carol had indicated to me sometime before the investigation commenced that she would be relocating and I agreed with Carol that what ever the outcome we felt that under the circumstances it would be best for the home to have a new manager and that she would not return to Isard House. Sarah Conway, we again decided to request witness statements from Social Services in order to decide on disciplinary action and that in the meantime Sarah will remain suspended from duty”

“ I held individual meetings with staff at Isard House on the 19th of May 1999, the purpose of the meetings was to tell them of the Social Services investigation and our co-operation with it, the meetings also provided an opportunity to inform them of our commitment to the home, there has been rumours that the home might be closed as a result of the allegations, I was concerned to offer reassurance and to reinforce the importance of continuing to provide good care to the residents at the home. By this time we were aware that one of the allegations that had been made concerned medication practice, Sure Greenwood, Quality Assurance manager, from our Q.A team in leads therefore visited Isard House on the 18th of May and reviewed care planning and medication systems at the request of Carole Newton, her audit results were produced a week later, they made few recommendations but there were no major concerns, the management approach adopted at the time was to support Carol Jones home Manager as she was holding the staff group together and insuring that the home provided a service to the residents during a very difficult time, the investigation was having a negative impact on the staff and the pressure on them had been increased because the seven applicants were all off sick”

“ Carole Newton was asked to attend a meeting at Bromley Civic Centre that afternoon to be advised of the allegations, following the meeting Carole Newton rung me to say that the allegations of misconduct had been made against Maria Keenaghan, who was a teamleader at Isard House, namely that she was alleged to have taken residents sweets and newspapers and we were asked to suspend her whilst all of the staff at the home were interviewed. Isard House is registered with the London Borough of Bromley, registration and inspection unit, for 65 residents, the home is managed under a contract between BUPA and Bromley Council, the home has always enjoyed a good reputation for the care services it provides, I first became aware of the situation at Isard House when Carole Newton called me on the 20th of April 1999, to say she had been informed by Social Services that two staff from Isard House had made allegations about the standards of care at the home, the police were being informed”

Q. Its quite clear from the way that this case has been put that the abuse the applicants reported was as far as you are concerned, not true and that you believed the applicants always knew it was not true when they reported it?

D.K. Yes

Q. So when this attitude is taken from the outset it is highly unlikely the same company would believe reports of harassment of the applicants?

D.K. I was not told about the harassment.

Q. The evidence quite clearly shows you were quite aware of it?

D.K. No I was not.

THIS CROSS EXAMINATION CONTINUES IN THE HARASSMENT SECTION