Rich care industry bosses are lapping up luxury while people in their residential facilities are served food so awful they get a ONE-STAR rating for hygiene.
Today we lift the lid on the state of care homes run by fat cat John Strowbridge and James Tugendhat, the son of a Tory peer and cousin of MP Tom, who ran for Prime Minister.
While Avery Healthcare chief Mr Strowbridge swans around on a yacht feasting on oysters, frail residents at one of his £1,000-a-week homes have been fed out-of-date grub.
An inspection on December 9, 2022 at Avery’s Hampstead Court home in North London – which had only opened that autumn – found expired food in the fridge and raw meat prepped on the same kitchen surface as cooked items.
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John Strowbridge - owner and MD of Avery Care in the centre at the Grand Prix in Middle EastYet the mogul has boasted on his care homes firm’s website about its “professionally trained chefs”.
The premises is one of nine retirement homes we uncovered with single star hygiene scores. It means hundreds of old people are at risk of food poisoning as families fork out thousands on care fees.
Eileen Chubb, the founder of elder abuse charity Compassion In Care , warned that people will die if firms fail to improve.
Eileen Chubb has warned people will die if firms don't improve (Eileen Chubb)She said: “A lot of care companies are making good profit by cutting corners. Poor food hygiene is something we see time and time again.
“Private sector care homes are always the first to moan about not getting enough money, but many care homes fail to provide safe care and put residents at risk.”
Avery Healthcare has 60 sites across the UK and raked in £8.9million in 2021. Mr Strowbridge, 63 – who runs a string of other companies – pocketed £567,000 in 2020 alone.
A video on his son’s Instagram account shows him glugging bubbly on a £38,000-a-week chartered yacht in Marbella. And he was seen living it up at a Grand Prix race in the Middle East.
Oysters for Strowbridge, far right, as residents got old foodAn anonymous source, who used to work at Hampstead Court home, told us: “It’s all about money. The home has glowing reviews but has only been open six months – who is writing them?”
Last year the tycoon sold two care facilities to a real estate investment firm for £28million.
And the billionaire Reuben brothers, from one of the UK’s richest families, are also investors in Avery Healthcare. They’ve splashed out on a raft of boy’s toys over the years, including a £54million super-yacht.
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James Tugendhat, CEO of HC-OneThe UK’s largest care provider HC-One – which runs 275 homes – has also landed a one-star hygiene rating.
Its chief James Tugendhat enjoys “good food and good wine” according to a Facebook post.
But investigators inspecting 30-bed The Daffodils in Merthyr Tydfil in December 2022 found staff had failed to check sell-by dates on the grub it serves up for residents. And they noted a lack of adequate training in hygienic food handling.
The Daffodils Care Home in Merthyr TydfilHC-One’s Plas Cwm Care Home in Port Talbot also got a one-star rating from a visit in November 2022, needing “major improvements in hygiene”.
Mr Tugendhat – son of a Tory peer – made £592,000 in 2021.
HC-One’s parent company is owned by one of Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest families.
Plas Cwm Carw Care Home in Port TalbotSnaps on social media reveal his love of getting away from it all on holidays while staff at the group’s Welsh care homes are on £9.55 an hour.
The UK has more than 17,000 private residential homes – an industry worth £7.7billion.
In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s government made private care homes big business. Before this most were council run.
Age UK says fees average around £600 a week for standard homes and more than £800 for those with nursing care. All pledge to provide a “home from home” experience.
Among them is Wessex Care which received a damning one star hygiene report in October last year.
Residents at Milford Manor in Salisbury were fed reheated food - despite the family-run group making £8million in 2022.
Milford Manor Residential Home in SalisburyIt’s a similar story at Roseberry Care, where hygiene standards are “not being followed”.
Inspectors visiting its Dolphin View home in Morpeth, Northumberland, on January 9 this year found food stored at incorrect temperatures, with a risk of cross-contamination.
Dolphin View Care Home in NorthumberlandRay Haskin, whose elderly mother suffering from dementia lives there, said the score was “very worrying”.
He told us: “I was at work last week and my wife sent me a screenshot of the hygiene rating – it was a real shock and I’m going in this week to have a word about it. I’m not very happy at all.”
An Avery Care spokesman said: "Avery Healthcare responded immediately addressing the issues identified by the Environmental Health Officer on the day of the visit in December. A further unannounced visit will take place imminently and the new published rating will be updated accordingly.”
James Tugendhat, CEO of HC-One, said: “We know everyone deserves great food, and it’s clear The Daffodils was not up to the high standard we hold ourselves to at HC-One when it was visited by inspectors last year. The team took immediate action because we are clear that the issues raised in the inspection are not what our Residents expect or deserve.”
The Care Quality Commission said it has power to prosecute if a care facility breaches section 14 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
The regulation ensures people who use services have adequate nutrition and hydration to sustain life and good health.
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