A woman has hit out at a home care agency for neglecting her elderly father-in-law before he died.

Carers from the home agency Francis House Homecare – run by Bedfordshire Supported Housing – regularly visited 89-year-old Gordon Capon at his Brickhill home before his death in March 2024.

But his daughter-in-law Sue Capon claims he suffered neglect. The company says it has taken 'full responsibility' for the 'shortfalls' in his care – and sent a 'sincere' apology to his family.

Mrs Capon said: “The council are clearly not bothered by this – but we are extremely unhappy that they still state on their website this company is a ‘recommended care provider’.

"We had numerous problems with one thing or another. Dad was not being cared for properly – staff badly trained etc.

"After Dad died, I brought an S42 neglect case against the company which was fully upheld after social services, CQC etc became involved. The company admitted neglect.”

A spokesman for Bedford Borough Council said: “Two S42 enquiries were undertaken by Adult Social Care in relation to the gentleman’s care.

“This was followed up as part of the safeguarding enquiry and the Care Standards team under quality assurance.

“The council continues to monitor this care provider and a full quality monitoring assessment was completed in September 2024.”

In a lengthy statement from Bedfordshire Supported Housing, operations director Brenda Queeley, said: “We are aware of the concerns raised regarding the care of the late Mr Gordon Capon and appreciate the opportunity to respond.

“A safeguarding concern regarding Mr Capon’s care was raised and investigated through the appropriate multi-agency safeguarding process. The concern was upheld, and we took full responsibility for the shortfalls identified.

"In line with our regulatory obligations, a formal notification was submitted to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and a detailed complaint response, including a sincere written apology, was provided directly to the family. We also met with a member of Mr Capon’s family to go through the complaint response.

“Following this, additional concerns were reviewed by Bedford Borough Council. After their investigation, the local authority concluded that no further action would be taken.

“As a provider, we take safeguarding and professional standards extremely seriously. In response to this incident, we undertook a full internal review and implemented additional quality assurance measures. We also conducted a series of reflective and practice development sessions with the relevant staff teams to reinforce expectations and realign practice with our expectations.

“Our offer to meet with Mr Capon’s family remains open.”