A NORTH-EAST care home owned by a company at the centre of a national abuse scandal has been investigated by regulators following a “serious safeguarding incident”.

Briar Court in Hartlepool, which is owned by Darlington-based Castlebeck Care, has appointed a new manager and is liaising with Hartlepool Council after being investigated by both the council and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following the incident earlier this year.

The Northern Echo understands it does not relate to abuse allegations.

Castlebeck Care, which was rocked by abuse allegations after a damning BBC Panorama documentary in 2011, went into administration in March this year, just days after the incident at Briar Court.

The CQC inspected the home just after the incident in March and in its report said: “We checked that people who use this service are protected from abuse, or the risk of abuse, and their human rights are respected and upheld.

“The provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.”

However its further report identified some areas which the home needed to improve in.

It said: “The people (residents) said that over the last year there had been a lot of changes in the staff team and they had found this unsettling but they felt that all of the new staff were competent. We found that staff needed to have a better understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Also the majority of records needed to be improved.”

A spokeswoman for Castlebeck confirmed there had been no injuries which needed treatment in the alleged incident and no members of staff had been suspended or dismissed.

She said an internal investigation had identified no shortfalls. “The interim manager who was there at the time has left and a new interim manager is place,” she said.

“The team led by the new management at Briar Court are dedicated to providing a safe, sound and supportive environment for the people with learning disabilities or behaviour that challenges, whose care they are entrusted with.

“In the areas where the CQC identified as requiring improvement, we now have an agreed action plan with the Commission to rectify these matters and the local inspector is working with us on this."

A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesman said: “We continue to closely monitor the home and support the new manager and existing residents.

“Meetings continue with Castlebeck Care representatives under the safeguarding protocols that have been put in place. Although as a council we do not commission services with Castlebeck Care, we will continue to support those that do and respond to any allegations or concerns raised.”