28 October 2023 , 18:08
509
0
A major care-home provider gave thousands of pounds to the Tories this year as a watchdog found one home spent less than £5 a day on each resident’s food.
Burrswood Care Home in Bury, Greater Manchester, was put into special measures by the Care Quality Commission on Wednesday after inspectors found a “systemic failure of leadership and management across all areas”. The watchdog warned of a “closed toxic culture which led to poor quality care”. And it said staff told inspectors in August the catering budget made it difficult to feed residents properly.
Advinia Health Care Ltd, which runs 35 care homes in England and Scotland, has donated £10,000 to the Tories this year, according to the Electoral Commission. The Tories have accepted £38,000 from the company in total. Advinia was founded by surgeon Dr Sanjeev Kanoria and his wife Sangita, who have a £1.9million mansion in north-west London.
Dr Sanjeev Kanoria, chairman, Advinia HealthcareDr Kanoria, the Advinia chairman, was critical of the Government’s handling of care homes during the pandemic but the company still gave £10,000 to the Tories in 2021. Accounts filed with Companies House show Advinia recorded a turnover of more than £94million in the financial year to March 2022, with £3.85million in pre-tax profits.
Alison Chilton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said: “When we inspected Burrswood Care Home, it was concerning to see such a significant deterioration in the quality of care. Leaders need to prioritise making urgent improvements, particularly regarding how the service is run, to ensure people’s needs are properly met.”
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Bury Council said it provided funding for nursing homes in the borough alongside cash from the NHS. A spokesman said it raised the amount by 15% this year and had provided staff for Burrswood Care Home. Advinia Health Care said: “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our priority and our dedicated teams strive to provide the highest quality of personalised care.
“The budgets we set for food and hospitality are absolutely in line with other leading providers in the care sector. Any political donations made by the company are drawn from ring-fenced funds and have no impact whatsoever on the financial governance of individual care homes. To imply otherwise is misleading.”