Video footage has revealed a care home resident was abused by agency care staff before he died.

Ron Carter, 82, died at HC-One’s The Gables in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire in May 2020.

The footage from the camera, which was installed secretly by the resident’s family, showed Mr Carter being struck by a carer on 13 May 2020 and care staff eating his food, the BBC revealed. Mr Carter died on 15 May 2020. Residents were also seen walking freely in and out of Mr Carter’s room.

On the morning of his death, carers told Mr Carter’s family he had a do not resuscitate order in place which they had known about.

Two care workers were arrested by Cambridge Constabulary on suspicion of ill treatment but were not charged.

Detective superintendent Sherrie Nash said actions by eight other carers on the covert footage were not compatible with their role but did not reach the threshold required for criminal investigation. 

The police force said it had subsequently made a number of changes to enhance its responses to future investigations in order to better protect vulnerable groups and continued to work with partners in adult social care and the CQC.

The Gables was one of three care homes to be closed by HC-One after being placed under embargo by Cambridgeshire County Council.

A BBC investigation in October 2023 found 46 allegations of sexual abuse at five HC-One care homes in Cambridgeshire, including The Gables.

An HC-One spokesperson said: “The behaviour described is unacceptable and we send our deepest apologies and condolences to Mr Carter’s family. This incident occurred at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic (May 2020) and as soon as concerns were raised with us, we removed the agency staff involved from our home, and stopped using their staffing agency. We do not tolerate any kind of mistreatment of our residents and cooperated fully with the police during their investigations.

“More broadly, we have acknowledged the local management issues that affected our Cambridgeshire homes at the time, and which led to care that did not meet the standards expected of us nor that we expect of ourselves. We apologise to those who were affected by this.

“In August 2023, following extensive engagement with Cambridgeshire County Council and NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, we decided that The Gables (and two other homes in Cambridgeshire) was no longer operationally and financially viable. We therefore made the difficult decision to close these homes and worked together to support residents and their families to find new care placements.”