Concerns raised over council-paid beds in inadequate Portsmouth care home

Portsmouth City Council pays for the majority of the beds at Harry Sotnick House which was recently put into special measures by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The Buckland care home is owned by the council but the provision of care and services falls to contract-holders Care UK.

Following the publication of the CQC report Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Portsmouth, said big questions need to be answered.

‘The council invested in building Harry Sotnick House to make sure there was good, quality care for people,’ he said.

‘Care UK is part of a big company and it is really disappointing that when they have got secure funding, they couldn’t run it better.’

As previously reported in The News the inspector said in their report there were medicine errors, ‘lack of good clinical leadership’ and there were ‘not always sufficient staff with suitable skills, knowledge and experience’.

Care UK’s director of care, quality and governance Rachel Gilbert said a programme of activity was already in place to deal with pressures and where improvements had to be made.

And Councillor Luke Stubbs, cabinet member for adult social care at Portsmouth City Council, said they were working with Care UK following the inspection.

Cllr Stubbs said: ‘We haven’t been admitting patients into Harry Sotnick House for a while which is standard practice.

‘The council has been working with Care UK towards a solution for the management of the home in the long-term.

‘Everyone involved is concerned about some of the outcomes of the inspection.’

But Cllr Vernon-Jackson said council taxpayers’ money was being wasted.

He added: ‘There’s big questions because if the council is not using the beds they bought, then they are paying for something that’s not being used. That is council taxpayers’ money and I think residents will want to see more being done.

‘People are having to find beds in other homes that could be significantly more expensive and taxpayers are having to stump up more money.’