A MAN with learning difficulties was filmed eating out of a bin after being neglected by care home staff, an investigation has uncovered.
The footage, captured by his concerned mum’s hidden camera, also shows workers snoozing on the job and completely ignoring the 23-year-old.
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Connor lives with bipolar disorder and autism due to a rare genetic condition.
He was staying at a care home in Coventry run by Lifeways – the UK’s largest provider of supported living for adults with learning difficulties.
Lifeways, which cares for around 4,000 people, is mainly funded by taxpayer money, earning £295million last year.
They charge the local council £4,700 a week for Connor’s one-to-one, 24-hour care.
Read more on the care crisis
But after Connor went missing from the home and was found nearly a mile away, his mum, Lindsay, grew concerned.
She told ITV News investigations editor Daniel Hewitt: “We could tell something was off.
“He would abscond saying he didn’t want to go back.
“He’s put on a lot of weight, he’s almost 20 stone now and he probably went in at around 13-14 stone.”
So, Lindsay set up a camera in Connor’s room.
Within days, she caught him eating food from a bin for almost an hour, all alone.
Even though Connor should have had constant supervision, the camera also captured staff repeatedly falling asleep.
Connor even had to wake them up, saying “wakey-wakey.”
Lindsay said: “I felt sick to my stomach.
“He is one-to-one care for a reason.
“That’s my child; the staff should be there looking after him.
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“They’d mock him and they’d vape next to him. Shouting in his face, every day was neglect, every shift was neglect.
“That was Connor’s normality, but we just didn’t know it.”
A Freedom of Information request by ITV News also found that the CQC received 366 safeguarding alerts, safeguarding concerns or other concerns about Lifeways services in 2024.
This is a 33 per cent increase from 2023. Of the 366 received in 2024, 232 were safeguarding alerts or concerns.
‘I was absolutely shocked’
ITV News also spoke to John Baskin, whose son Steven, who has Down’s Syndrome, spent eight years in Lifeways care.
He took Steven out of the care home after noticing his decline and lack of proper care.
John explained: “He was putting on enormous amounts of weight, getting fatter and fatter, unhappy.
“He was staying in bed, he wasn’t getting up, the whole flat was just filthy dirty, rotting food, hands that hadn’t been washed, there was a lack of soap for him to wash.”
In 2019, during a visit to the home, John saw his son’s foot had turned black – yet it had gone untreated.
“I was absolutely shocked,” he said.
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“I called the hospital staff and they were shocked as well. I really was horrified because it looked like he could lose a foot.
“At Lifeways nobody thought to remark on it. That’s the biggest worry for a parent from the time your child is born, like Steven. What will happen when I’m not here to do it?”
Lifeways has received £1.5billion of public funds since 2016, according to analysis by public service analysts Tussell.
But in 2024, Care Quality Commission reports found that 63 per cent of their services were either inadequate or needed improvement.
‘They don’t care’
Former staff members allege that there was a lack of proper training and dangerous staffing levels.
One former worker said, “They don’t care about their safety or their wellbeing, as long as that money comes in.”
“They don’t care about their safety or their wellbeing, as long as that money comes in,” she said.
“If the money coming in had reached the staff, they would have been able to give people a much better quality of life.”
Care sector in crisis
2.6 million people in England aged over 50 are unable to get care, including hundreds of thousands who are stuck on waiting lists for support or even just waiting to have their needs assessed, according to Age UK.
That means millions left struggling to go to the toilet, eat, get dressed or wash because they can’t do these things unaided.
And there are many more providing unpaid care, often older and in poor health themselves, doing their best to keep their loved ones safe and well at home.
They desperately need support from care services so that they can take a break from caring.
The social care workforce crisis is also putting a huge strain on care and nursing homes.
There were 165,000 care staff vacancies on average in 2021/22 – a 52 per cent increase on the previous year.
Age UK are campaigning for an urgent increase in funding for social care, to ensure that care services can recruit and retain the staff they require, and to help the millions of older people who are stuck waiting for the good, reliable care and support they need.
Many older people have already been waiting a long time for care – they can’t wait any longer.
Age UK have called for for an immediate pay rise for care professionals and publish a plan to reform social care and implement it in full over 5 years.
ITV took the findings of their investigation to Coventry City Council.
Pete Fahy, Coventry City Council’s Director of Care, Health and Housing, called Connor’s experience “appalling.”
“That type of conduct, that sort of neglect is never acceptable,” he told us.
“Improvements have been made at the home, and there have been much less incidents reported recently.
“We need to continue to work with Lindsay and Connor to ensure he’s appropriately supported.
“We hope to never see that type of incident happen anywhere in the city ever again.”
‘It is awful, but it is rare’
In response to the investigation, Lifeways CEO Andrea Kinkade told ITV News: “It’s absolutely appalling to hear those stories and to hear about anybody who receives neglectful care or lack of care. I think it is absolutely shameful.
“These situations are historic. They were dealt with robustly at the time. As soon as we were alerted to them, we suspended people and they were subsequently dismissed.”
“We deliver 3million care hours a year with 10,000 employees. Thankfully, this is rare. It is awful, but it is rare.”