Nursing home staff suspended for tormenting dementia patients

Ashbourne House, Middleton

Staff at Ashbourne House nursing home in Middleton have been suspended over allegations they taunted elderly dementia patients by 'torturing' their dolls.

It is understood that two carers from the Rochdale Road home were caught on film 'torturing' the dolls - footage posted on social media shows the carers stringing a doll up by its neck, whilst another shows them being thrown to the floor.

The dolls are a soothing therapy for dementia patients who take pleasure in looking after them, and some believe them to be real.

Liz McInnes, MP for Heywood and Middleton, is calling for a full investigation. She said: “The allegations of abuse at Ashbourne House are incredibly serious. Care workers are in a position of unique trust, and patients and their families should be able to have total confidence that they will be cared for properly and treated with respect.

“If these claims are true, there has been a gross breach of this trust and the perpetrators deserve to be punished to the full extent of the law.

‘I have today (Monday 25 January) written to managers at the care home and also to Peter Wyman, Chairman of the Care Quality Commission, and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, to demand a full investigation into these appalling allegations.”

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “Police have been made aware of this, but so far there is no criminal investigation taking place, because no crime was actually committed.

“There may well be a safeguarding issue taking place, but as it stands at the moment there is no criminal activity to be followed up.”

Rochdale Online News contacted Ashbourne House twice, but no one was available for comment.

It was previously reported on Rochdale Online News how Ashbourne House was assessed by the Care Quality Commission and required improvement:

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/98319/ashbourne-house-nursing-home-%E2%80%98requires-improvement%E2%80%99-says-care-quality-commission

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UPDATE
26 January 2016

At around 9am on Friday 22 January 2016, police were called about a number of concerning images that had been taken by staff at a care home in Middleton.

Officers from the Rochdale Public Protection Investigation Unit (PPIU) have liaised with adult services to assess any safeguarding concerns.

Police are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Detective Inspector Lee Hopwood of GMP's Rochdale Division said: "We take reports of this nature extremely seriously and we are now investigating the possibility that a criminal offence may have been committed.

"I understand incidents like this can cause a lot of concern but I would like to urge members of the public to allow us to investigate and deal with this matter."