Coronavirus: Daughter of resident's 'disgust' at care home failings

The daughter of a man who died of Covid-19 contracted at an inadequate care home being investigated by police has said she is "absolutely disgusted" at its failings.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) identified "serious failings" at Temple Court care home in Kettering after 15 residents died.

Karen Smith's father Roy Hunt, 83, died of coronavirus on 19 April.

Temple Court said it had been "completely overwhelmed" by Covid-19.

The home was closed in May amid serious concerns from the CQC after a major coronavirus outbreak.

Ms Smith said she wondered if her father had been mistreated when her mother was unable to go to the home due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

"I am absolutely disgusted by the report, but not surprised after hearing the amount of complaints my mother had made during his time there," she said.

"It makes us wonder, and all the families wonder, if their family members had been mistreated as well - whether they had been properly fed and looked after."

In response to the CQC report, Temple Court said: "We are astonished the CQC report has chosen to disregard the reason why standards at Temple Court deteriorated - the home was completely overwhelmed due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

"An influx of residents from the NHS in late March led to an outbreak of Covid-19 which affected existing residents and a large proportion of staff, including the manager and entire senior team."

Inspectors who visited Temple Court on 12 and 13 May found the care home had not informed the CQC about serious incidents without delay, including when people died or suffered injuries.

The CQC report said people had been malnourished and dehydrated because of poor management of their diets.

Northamptonshire Police said it was working with the county council to investigate the home.

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