A former residential care facility manager has been struck off the nursing register following an investigation that uncovered numerous shortcomings in patient welfare. Carolyn Blore ran Ashford Lodge Nursing Home in Ilkeston for almost a decade before the home shut down. The home, which housed 20 residents at the time, was awarded a deeply unfavourable rating by the Care Quality Commission in 2022. Subsequently, the matter was escalated to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which convened a fitness-to-practice tribunal in March. The panel established that over 25 distinct violations had taken place and accordingly ordered her erasure from the register.

While recognising the significant challenges confronting care establishments during the coronavirus pandemic, the panel stressed that Blore’s choices and oversights generated avoidable hazards for those in her charge. Evidence submitted during the hearing demonstrated that two occupants had their freedom of movement curtailed when baby gates were fitted at the entrances to their bedrooms. The panel declared that there was no paperwork confirming that capacity assessments or best-interests determinations were carried out to validate imposing such limiting steps. The installation of these gates was found to represent an inappropriate constraint on movement. Both occupants had recorded vulnerabilities to falling, yet no associated risk assessments were completed, creating a foreseeable risk of injury.

In January 2022, official documentation erroneously recorded that one occupant had dementia. The Care Quality Commission delegate informed the panel that this individual was actually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and had no dementia diagnosis. Furthermore, the hearing uncovered an incident in December 2021 when an occupant suffered a fall, with no record of any inquiry or safeguarding alert being raised. The panel stressed that Blore carried a distinct professional duty to investigate safeguarding concerns and incidents in detail.

Concerning the sanction, the panel took into account Blore’s lengthy career with no previous issues and no prior regulatory problems. The finding stated that these incidents happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that placed extraordinary demands on healthcare settings, particularly residential care homes. Nevertheless, the panel concluded that immediate removal from practice was warranted. The panel observed there was a significant absence of self-awareness. Blore has not demonstrated understanding of her shortcomings, neither during the CQC inspection nor afterwards. The misconduct involved extremely vulnerable people, all of whom were elderly individuals with frailty and multiple medical conditions. Blore’s choices and failures placed those under her supervision at definite risk of harm.