Woman Held Over Assault At Braintree Care Home

15 May 2014, 06:44 | Updated: 15 May 2014, 06:46

Essex Police

A second woman has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a resident at a care home in Braintree.

The 30-year-old was arrested at her home in Braintree yesterday (Wednesday 14 May) by detectives probing abuse at the Old Deanery Care Home in the town, Essex Police said.

It comes after a 40-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assault on 4 May before being bailed to July.

A police spokesman said today: "On Wednesday, May 14, officers arrested a woman in her 30s at her home in Braintree on suspicion of assaulting a resident at the care home before being released on police bail until the end of July pending further inquiries.''

Anglia Retirement Homes Ltd, which runs the home, sacked seven members of staff there after Panorama showed an elderly woman with dementia being bullied and slapped by a worker.

Essex Police launched an investigation after a programme broadcast on April 30 showed residents being taunted, roughly handled, ignored and left in their own excrement for hours at the 93-bed home, which costs up to £700 a week.

Anglia Retirement Homes Ltd released a statement after the documentary was aired in which it insisted the incidents involved only a small number of staff and said the company did not tolerate this kind of behaviour.

It said that after initially suspending eight members of staff when the allegations first came to light, six had been been dismissed and a further case is being urgently reviewed, while the care worker responsible for slapping the resident was summarily dismissed earlier in the week.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the site while Panorama was undercover in November and gave the home a clean bill of health.

But the regulator returned two months ago after it was informed about the Panorama findings and found shortcomings including too few staff and some residents having to wait too long for assistance.