RESIDENTS have welcomed news the practices of a North East Lincolnshire mental health care provider will be examined by a council scrutiny team.
As reported, the Care Quality Commission discovered a catalogue of failings after visiting three of five properties in the area run by Carmand.
In February, inspections were carried out at Amber House, in Grimsby Road, Humberston, and Topaz House and Sapphire House, in Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, as reported.
And a report of its findings published last month found, among other things, that staff using "unlawful or excessive control" to restrain patients and two new members of staff being left to care for four people with very complex needs, including a history of self-harm.
The CQC is currently carrying out further follow-up inspections at Sapphire and Topaz.
Many of the issues highlighted in the reports were attributed to a lack of adequate training – something which Carol Faniyi, forensic psychologist practitioner and director of Carmand, said is being addressed.
However, North East Lincolnshire Council leader Chris Shaw told those attending a residents' meeting to discuss the report, he had ordered the matter to be brought before a scrutiny panel as there had been so many complaints.
Councillor Shaw was today unavailable for comment. However, Councillor Stephen Harness, who was among a number of councillors attending the meeting, confirmed this to be the case.
Others included Mick Burnett, John Fenty, Hazel Chase and Peter Wheatley, who chaired the meeting.
Councillor Harness said: "What we decided to do was to take it to scrutiny so we can do a comparison study.
"We will compare them to other providers and get a general feel for how provision works in general.
"We will not be looking at Carmand in isolation. We are getting a picture of how provision workers with other providers."
An NELC spokesman said the matter was still at an early stage and no date for a meeting had been set.
She said: "At an informal meeting between councillors, local people and representatives from Carmand, a request was made for some matters discussed to be considered by the council's Health Scrutiny Panel.
"This request will be processed in the usual way, but it's too early to go into any further detail at this time."
A spokesperson for the residents who attended the meeting said: "We were grateful to see so many councillors at the meeting, including the council leader, which is indicative of the situation.
"The CQC has found failings but Carmand continues.
"The outcome of the meeting was positive, as we hope being referred to the council's scrutiny panel alongside CQC's continued investigation will lead to improvements for both staff and clients, and reassure local residents."
