Beechwood Court
The partner and primary carer of an elderly man, Glen Atkins has written to Brent Council Leader, Muhammed Butt, and local MP, Barry Gardiner, following what she terms a 'profound breach of care' at Sovereign Network Group's Beechwood Court care home in Wembley.
She wrote:
I am writing to you as an elderly
carer, deeply distressed and frightened by the repeated safeguarding failures
at Beechwood Court that have now endangered my partners life for a second time.
My Partner, Glen Atkins, who has dementia and
significant health needs, went missing again on Saturday 22nd of November, due
to what appears to be the lack of security and
supervision from the carers.
On this occasion, the consequences have been even
more severe: he was found in a deteriorated condition and is now in hospital
receiving treatment.
This is not only unacceptable but it is a profound
breach of care.
Following the first incident, I was assured that
measures would be taken to prevent this from ever happening again. Those
assurances were clearly not upheld. As his main carer, and as an elderly woman
myself, I rely on the council’s systems to keep him safe. Instead, we are now
living through the trauma of repeated failures that could have cost him his
life.
I am requesting the following immediate actions:
1. A formal investigation into how my partner was
able to leave the premises again despite previous alerts and assurances.
2. An urgent review of Beechwood Court’s
safeguarding procedures, including door security, staff monitoring, incident
reporting, and emergency escalation processes.
3.Immediate support in securing a safer and more
appropriate placement for my partner, as I no longer have confidence in the
facility’s ability to protect him.
4. A direct meeting or call with a senior
safeguarding officer within the council, within the next 7 days.
No family should ever have to go through this once,
let alone twice. The physical, emotional and psychological impact on my Partner and on the family is immeasurable. I am
asking you personally to intervene, as this situation now represents a systemic
and dangerous failure affecting vulnerable adults in your borough.
I look forward to your urgent response.
Patricia Bryan
Barry Gardiner has not yet responded and Muhammed Butt's office has just sent an acknowledgement,
Asif Zamir has written to Cllr Neal Nerva and Brent CEO Kim Wright in support of Patricia Bryan calling for a firmal investigation
My name is Asif Zamir, and I am writing
to you formally to request an urgent investigation into the care and safety of
Mr. Glen Atkins, currently a resident at Beechwood Court.
I am supporting Mr. Atkins’ partner and
primary carer, Patricia Bryan, who has expressed profound distress regarding
repeated safeguarding failures. On Saturday, 22nd November, Mr. Atkins—who
lives with dementia—went missing from the facility for a second time. He was
later found in a severely deteriorated state and is currently hospitalised.
Despite previous assurances following a
similar incident, it is clear that the security and supervision protocols at
Beechwood Court are insufficient.
I am formally requesting that you
initiate a senior-level investigation into this case, specifically addressing:
The systemic failure of security
measures that allowed a vulnerable resident to go missing twice.
The breach of previous safeguarding
agreements made with the family.
An immediate review of the facility's
fitness to provide care for residents with complex dementia.
To the Ward Councillors (Cc’d): I am
copying you into this correspondence to formally request that you raise Member
Enquiries on behalf of Patricia Bryan and Glen Atkins. We require your support
to ensure transparency, accountability, and an urgent resolution to ensure Mr.
Atkins is moved to a safer, more appropriate placement upon his discharge from
the hospital.
Given the severity of this situation
and the fact that a vulnerable resident’s life has been endangered, I look
forward to your acknowledgment of this email within 24 hours and a detailed
response regarding the investigation steps.
Wembley Matters sough further information about the context of Mr Atkins' going missing from the care home. Asif Zamir said:
It's alleged that CCTV was not working at Beechwood house. Mr Atkins had been missing for approx 7.5 hrs. A contributing factor on the delay in finding him was that the staff allegedly could not pin an exact time of when he had disappeared or the events leading up to his disappearance.
Mr Atkins had been taken by a members of staff to the communal area for his lunch and left unsupervised and that is when he disappeared.
When he wasreturned he had been out in bad weather and returned with wet clothes.
Had the staff carried out their duty and provided accurate statements, there is a chance Mr Atkins could have been found earlier and prevented harm to him. There is a chain of failings.
He is in poor health in hospital; Beechwood Court have effectively evicted him whilst he is in hospital as they cannot meet his needs. The local authority must carry out their duty in helping find him a new home that meets his needs.
Patricia Bryan said that Mr Atkins had been found by police and returned to the Care Home who phoned to inform her. When she arrived at the care home she was told the he'd had his medication and was in bed. When she went upstairs to his room she found him shivering and called 999. He was blue-lighted to Northwick Park Hospital where he remains. He has swollen feet with high blood sugar levels and is being treated with drugs for his diabetes and a course of insulin. Patricia said she she doesnlt know what trauma this incodent has caused and is seeking information from the consultant about his discharge.
She is looking at alternative care homes but was told that her preference would require an additional contribution of around £800 a week when that is how much pension Mr Atkins gets in a month.
A complicating factor is the triple involvement at the care home. It is run by Sovereign Network Group (SNG), the caring service is provided by Westminster Homecare Limited who have several recently renewed contracts with Brent Council, and Brent Council deals with allocations via the Adult Care Service and provides oversight.
A Stage 1 complaint was made to SNG on behalf of Mr Atkins and an investigation undertaken. The report on the investigation consists of a catalogue of many issues over time with the electronics and mechanism of the entrance door and a suggestion that he exited after the door was made insecure during a power outage. The conclusion has a sting in the tail:
My Decision
I am not upholding the complaint on the grounds of service failure. However, I
want to be clear that this does not diminish the seriousness of the incident or the distress it
caused. I fully acknowledge the impact this has had on Mr Atkins, including the
deterioration in his condition and the concerns raised by Beechwood staff and social
workers.
I would like to extend a further apology to you for the delay with your response. I wanted to
ensure I had full scope of the situation at hand as well as tangible information/ updates to
provide before responding to you. With that being said, I understand how important timely
communication is and regret any additional frustration this may have caused. To
compensate for this delay and in line with our policy, I will be awarding you £20 for delayed
response. In line with our policy this will be credited to your rent/service charge account
and visible on your statement within the next 28 days.
UPDATE: I emailed Cllr Nerva, Cabinet Lead Member for Adult Social Care, yesterday offering him the opportunity to make a published comment on this issue. I have only had a standard holding reply so far:
Thank you for your email
I will respond to you as soon as possible
