Bexley (Parliament Politics megazine) – In December 2022, Bilikesu Olagunju abused 88-year-old John Attard. CQC found Bexley agency Unique Personnel unsafe and is closely monitoring it. Son Chris Attard blames poor checks.
As News Shopper News reported, CQC found Bexley agency Unique Personnel unsafe and is closely monitoring it. In December 2022, an 88-year-old man with dementia, John Attard, was abused by a care worker, Bilikesu Olagunju. Olagunju had only worked for Unique Personnel for 6 days. On Christmas Eve, she was caught on camera threatening and physically hurting Mr. Attard.
The next day, he was found unwell and didn’t recover. Olagunju was convicted of mistreating a person with a mental disability and received a suspended sentence. Mr. Attard’s son, Chris, was very upset by this. He felt the care agency, Unique Personnel, should also be held responsible. Chris said the agency didn’t do enough checks or training. He believes that if they had, Olagunju would never have been allowed to care for his vulnerable father.
“They should have been in the dock alongside [Olagunju]. Had they done their due diligence she never would have been sent near an elderly person.” Chris said
How did a care worker accused of abuse get hired again?
2 months after the abuse, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) checked Unique Personnel. They said the service “requires improvement.” The CQC found the company didn’t properly check for risks to the people it cared for. Because of these failures, serious problems, like the abuse of Mr. Attard, were missed.
The CQC can take legal action but pointed out that the agency didn’t improve its services. Chris Attard is now focused on holding Unique Personnel responsible for the problems in the care system, hoping to stop similar events from happening again.
The Care Quality Commission said they were sorry for the death of John Attard in December 2022 and said the way his care worker treated him was wrong. They found out about the bad treatment soon after it happened and spoke to Unique Personnel Limited to understand what went wrong. They also worked with the local council and police.
In February 2023, they checked the company and gave it three warnings for problems with safety, staff, and management. They kept meeting with the company to make sure things were being fixed. In court, the prosecutor said the care worker pulled and shouted at John, made threats, and did not treat him with respect.
She washed him roughly, left him naked with curtains open, and shouted when he struggled to stand. She let him fall, didn’t call an ambulance when told, and dragged him by the arm and collar. A video showed her throwing him into a chair and threatening to beat him, flog him, call police, and take him for injections.
Judge Charlotte Welsh said it was shocking that someone with no proper experience was given a man with dementia as their first client. She said caring is a hard job and many do not see how hard it is until they need it. She believed Olagunju did not get enough training.
Unique Personnel said Olagunju applied on November 25, 2022, and went through strong training and worked with other staff before starting on December 17. They said even with this, she did not follow care rules during a visit. She called for help and was told to call 999, but she did not. CCTV showed this.
The company said her actions did not match their care standards. They said they have given care for 24 years and never had a case like this. They made their training and checks for staff better. They said they take all cases seriously and act fast. Olagunju was fired and the DBS was told. But a few months later, she got a job at a hospital on a stroke ward.
The victim’s family said it was upsetting to know she still worked with old and weak people. In July 2024, she got an award at the hospital for kind care. The hospital said they acted fast when they found out and said she no longer works there. People now ask why the DBS system did not warn the hospital. The family said this shows the DBS system is not working right.
