Firm appears at court over Covid-hit Kettering care home where residents died

The firm which ran a Covid-hit Kettering care home where more than a dozen people died is being prosecuted by the health regulator.

Temple Court in Albert Street saw 15 residents die in the early months of the pandemic and its remaining 21 residents were transferred to other services on the second day of an inspection in May 2020.

The home was later closed and in October that year it was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

A seven-month police probe ended in January 2021 with no further action and the CQC has now launched its own prosecution.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Amicura Limited, based in Addlestone, Surrey, and company director Colin Farebrother, 57, of Ponterwyd, near Aberystwyth, made a brief appearance at Wellingborough Magistrates’ Court.

Both are accused of four charges of failing to provide care or treatment in a safe way resulting in harm or loss between February 25 and May 14, 2020.

The charges allege that there was insufficient managerial and clinical support provided at the home.

It is also alleged that Amicura Limited increased the ‘service user population’ at the home without properly assessing the impact such an increase would have on health and safety.

No pleas were entered and the case was adjourned to a date to be fixed.

When the CQC inspection report was published Temple Court said they had been overwhelmed by Covid and that an influx of patients from the NHS led to an outbreak.

They said the outbreak also affected the home's manager and staff, leaving it having to rely on agency workers.