Mimosa meltdown?

The Mimosa Healthcare Group who run Kingsmead Lodge Nursing Home have now twice been invited by the Evening Cancer to comment on the major allegations of abuse going on in their home.

Here’s the organisation’s formal responses so far:

Mimosa Healthcare, which runs Kingsmead Lodge, has declined to comment while a police and CSCI investigation is being carried out.
Bristol Evening Post, Friday 30 January 2009

The Bristol Post contacted Mimosa Healthcare director Barbara Cotman by telephone and e-mail and took a copy of the detailed allegations to Kingsmead Lodge yesterday to give her a chance to respond but she declined to do so.
Bristol Evening Post, Thursday 5 February 2009

Looks like they’re staying pretty tight-lipped doesn’t it?

It’s a pity then that Mimosa’s PR team didn’t bother to mention this to their Operations Manager Mark Butler, who I think we can safely describe as completely and utterly barking mad and a major liability to Mimosa, its clients and their business partner Bristol City Council, whose social services department are probably having a collective nervous breakdown right now as you read this.

For Mark has taken it upon himself to fire off a highly original and entertaining – if somewhat irregular – letter to a relative of one his beleagured home’s residents – Steve Norman – which provides a fascinating insight into the investigation he should be conducting and tells us all we need to know about how Mimosa are really treating these issues.

From the general tone and content of his letter, you’re really left to wonder whether this man should be responsible for vulnerable adults or should be locked in a secure institution for them.

Butler’s letter can be read in its entirety by clicking the image above and here. But let’s take a look at a few passages in detail.

In fairness to Butler, it all starts rather well, “The relationship that our staff have with families is built on trust and openess,” he gushes in his opening para.

But what’s this in paragraph two?

“We have had numerous complaints from our female staff about your intimidation and aggression towards them and a number of them have raised complaints about your bullying behaviour.”

What an extraordinary coincidence this is. Less than two weeks after receiving a number of detailed allegations from five former staff (make that six – another one’s been to the police this week. Ed) and from a number of relatives of residents at the home and just days after the home was plastered all over the front page of the Evening Cancer, Mark’s uncovered evidence that one of the most voiciferous complainants is – would you believe? – a bully and a sex pest.

Now the cynics among us might find the timing of Butler’s claim troubling. Particularly if you consider that Norman has visited his parents regularly in the home for over two years now without incident or complaint.

But lo and behold – after he turns up on the front page of the Cancer making serious allegations against Butler’s business – he’s suddenly a notorious bully, a danger to women and the subject of numerous complaints. You couldn’t make it up really could you? … Although Butler obviously has.

By para three of the letter Butler’s really in to his stride. “You … have been instrumental in leading a campaign involving certain aggrieved ex-members of staff against the home and its staff, culminating in the article in the Bristol Evening Post,” he rages.

Blimey. Let’s unpack this one a bit. ‘Certain aggrieved ex-members of staff’ say Mimosa. A campaign is it? Really? And how do they know that this is simply a case of ‘aggrieved ex-members of staff’ making trouble for them?

Mimosa received five different sets of extremely complex and detailed allegations from these five ex-staff less than two weeks ago. Allegations that Mimosa seem desperate to keep out of the public domain and are too terrified to comment to the press on. Another former staff member even came forward to the police this week.

So are we to believe that Butler has launched and concluded a hugely detailed and comprehensive investigation into these complaints all on his own in 2 weeks and is thus able to conclude, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there’s no case to answer and it’s all just a lot of hot air and lies from Mr Norman?

Why haven’t Mimosa told the press this then?

And can we also conclude that Mimosa have already fully investigated the new allegations given to the police this week that they haven’t even heard yet? Is Butler clairvoyant too?

It begins to look like Mimosa’s real response to these allegations has been to pack Butler off to Kingsmead Lodge to run a crude smear campaign against Mr Norman, their former employees and any other people making complaints against them while not bothering to investigate any of the allegations in the slightest.

Which makes you wonder what Bristol City Council make of all this. They’re the people ultimately responsible for the residents in Mimosa’s homes and they’ve been desperately assuring people for a week now that a serious investigation is proceeding.

Last Friday they told the Cancer, “The city council is committed to a full and thorough review of the claims made and the investigation with our partner agencies is ongoing.”

And this Wednesday they said, “We do take the welfare of the people placed by the council in accommodation very seriously and we do have robust strategies in place to protect residents.”

And now we find – from the horse’s mouth – that what their partner agency have actually been doing for the last week is not investigating the claims with any seriousness at all.

Instead they’re busy inventing tall stories and appear to be about to start some crappy little smear campaign against Mr Norman while claiming that the whole thing is down to a few ‘aggrieved ex-staff members’.

Is this what Bristol City Council call a robust strategy for protecting people? Crude smears and cover-ups devised by a retard?

Not that social services are in the best position to criticise anything or anyone very much. By the end of para 3 of Butler’s inane rant he says, “I understand also from Social Service colleagues that you are organising a protest outside the home at some point.”

Whoops! You shouldn’t have written that down Mr Butler. That information was contained in a private Email sent to Liz Sutton in Adult Community Care, Bristol City Council by a whistle blower and complainant.

This is confidential information that Bristol City Council, as the formal investigating body in to the allegations, should not be sharing with Mimosa without permission. What other information from whistle blowers have they been casually handing over to nutjob Butler and Mimosa?

I suppose at least we now know – as idiot Butler has spelt it out in writing for us – that Bristol Social Services won’t be respecting basic client confidentiality issues during this case.

Ms Sutton, meanwhile, a social services manager who doesn’t apparently respect client confidentiality might as well clear her desk now …

By para four of the letter you can almost see Butler’s eyes glazing over, the three mile stare and the saliva dripping on to the keyboard. He’s now screaming “VENDETTA”!!! for chrissakes.

Of course it’s a vendetta Mark. What other possible reason could there be for a major police investigation in to your home and a series of damaging stories in the local press?

Get a grip man. Calm yourself down. How about treating yourself to a good meal? Perhaps your staff could put some sedatives in it for you too? Please can they? For all our sakes.

Butler’s final flourish is particularly intriguing. He laughably demands an apology then darkly concludes the correspondence threatening that he “reserves the right to seek other redress”.

Ooh, er missus! Can’t wait for this. What do you have in mind then Mark?

On current form, stripping naked, putting a paper bag over your head and running through the streets of Bristol waving your dick around while screaming “look this is Steve Norman” isn’t out of the question is it?

Could I suggest that it might be time Mr Butler took some gardening leave?

Toodle pip!