The Health Secretary has called for an investigation into Lifeways, one of the UK’s largest providers of support for people with a learning disability after an ITV expose found evidence of serious neglect in its care homes.
The investigative report by Daniel Hewitt included footage of 23-year-old Connor Evans, who lives in a Lifeways residential home in Coventry, eating out of a bin in the middle of the night with no carer in sight. According to the ITV report, his round-the-clock care package costs Coventry council £4,700 a week.
Another report included a man with Down’s syndrome whose untreated foot infection got so bad it required hospital care.
More families have since come forward to highlight ”dangerous” understaffing, lack of training and poor levels of care at the supported living homes,
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told ITV: “These allegations are extremely serious. Whether we are in receipt of care or people we love are in receipt of care, we want to know that people are being treated well, with high-quality care and with the dignity and respect they deserve.
“I will be raising these very serious allegations with the Care Quality Commission.”
Lifeways has issued a statement saying that it cannot talk about the individual people it supports and has supported other than to say that it is truly sorry when anyone feels they have let them down.
It added: “Lifeways came under new ownership and leadership in 2023, with stronger governance and investment in front-line pay, plus over £10m in training, buildings and systems that improved quality. 85% of Lifeways’ Group regulated services are rated ‘Good’ or compliant and our support has won awards in 2024.
“We support 4,000 people and employ 10,000 across the UK. Unacceptable behaviour is, thankfully, extremely rare and we have zero-tolerance of it. We are sorry when it happens, because it causes pain for people we support and their families, but we have strong checks in place to expose such behaviour and we tackle it swiftly and strongly.”
Information obtained by ITV for the report found that Lifeways’ revenue increased in 2024 to £295 million, and it has received almost £1.5 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts with local councils and the NHS since 2016.
The Care Quality Commission received 366 safeguarding alerts, safeguarding concerns, or other concerns about Lifeways services in 2024, a 33% increase from 2023. Of the 366 received in 2024, 232 were safeguarding alerts or concerns.
