Daniel Hewitt – Tuesday 8 April 2025
Disabled people and their families have told ITV News that they fear lives are being put at risk by one of the UK’s largest private care companies.
An ITV News investigation has found allegations of neglect across multiple residential and supported living homes run by Lifeways, the UK’s biggest provider of complex care in the community for people with learning disabilities.
After our first report last month into alleged failings at the company, Lifeways Chief Executive Andrea Kinkade told us that our findings were “historic” and “rare”.
Now, more than 80 people have come forward to ITV News with further allegations, including a mother whose blind, learning-disabled son, who requires one to one care, was left alone when a fire alarm went off in his flat.
Another man with severe muscular dystrophy, who needs a ventilator to breathe and carers to help him drink and go the bathroom, told ITV News he developed a kidney infection, because no-one attended to him for two hours after he repeatedly pressed his alarm to use the toilet.
ITV News has now learned that, following our first report, Lifeways has been suspended from taking on new referrals by one London council.
Mikey Simon has lived in residential care for most of his adult life. The 47 year old is blind, autistic and has learning disabilities. He always needs a carer with him in the day, and two-hour checks throughout the night.
At his supported living flat in north London, his mother Sylvia Siddique tells us out of all providers that have looked after Mikey, the care he currently receives is “the worst” he has ever experienced. Mikey’s care is provided by Lifeways.
Mikey’s family installed cameras in his flat in November 2022, telling ITV News they had become concerned that Mikey was not receiving the care he should be. They say the cameras showed Mikey living a life of solitude; day after day, he sits in an armchair in his bedroom while his carers sit in the living room.
Sylvia says that before Mikey was under Lifeways care, he would be taken out into the community by his carers.
“He used to be very active,” Sylvia tells us. “He used to go shopping. In all the other care homes, as bad as they’ve been, they’ve always allowed him to come out into the community. But here, it just doesn’t happen.
Sylvia gestures to Mikey sitting in his chair: “This – what you see here – is what it is. This is his life.
“They’re slowly killing him. He’s losing his mobility.”
Mikey requires two carers with him when he spends time outside of his flat, in the community.
In 2023, the funding he received for this was reduced, after the North Central London NHS Integrated Care Board – who pay for Mikey’s care – could find “no evidence” that Lifeways were providing the 35 hours a week of community activity that they were being paid to.
In November 2022 footage shows Mikey left alone in his flat while a loud smoke alarm goes off continuously.
Mikey paces his room, clearly confused, his mother says. One of his carers enters the flat but goes straight into the kitchen and does not check on Mikey – or reassure him that there is no fire. A second carer then enters the flat, again ignoring Mikey.
Showing us the footage, Sylvia says: “He doesn’t know what’s going on, and they don’t even comfort him.”
In January 2025, another clip shows Mikey going to the bathroom, where he can be clearly heard retching violently. His carers, who are sat in the next room, do not check up on him.
In April 2024, a neighbour of Mikey’s – another vulnerable resident who is non-verbal – can be seen alone in Mikey’s flat at 10pm, helping himself to food from Mikey’s fridge. Footage shows him in the flat for more than an hour, unaccompanied. Mikey is asleep in the next room.
The building Mikey lives in has carers on-site 24 hours a day.
“My son has been in care for 24 years and this is by far the worst,” Sylvia tells us.
“I actually think if it wasn’t for these cameras, Mikey would be dead.”
Mikey’s care is estimated to cost between £3,500 and £6,000 per week. Sylvia says she is speaking out not only for her son, but for other residents as well.
“There are family members here who are getting on in age. They are not strong enough to speak out. They are scared.
“People need to know what’s going on in Lifeways.”
ITV News has learned that following our first investigation, Lifeways has been placed under a form of special measures by Barnet Council, who are responsible for adult social care in the borough.
A spokesperson for the council told us, “Barnet Council is extremely dismayed at the reported treatment experienced by the residents and fully understands the distress of their families.
“The council has concerns about the quality of care… and is working with [Lifeways] to resolve the issues.
“The council has placed Lifeways under its formal provider concerns process to closely monitor it and to be confident that improvements are being made through a robust action plan. Lifeways has been placed under embargo and cannot make any new admissions to the service.”
Lifeways say this only applies to the accommodation Mikey lives in.
Jenny Goodridge, acting Chief Nursing Officer for the North Central London NHS Integrated Care Board, who pay for Mikey’s care, said: “The quality and safety of care is our highest priority.
“Since being made aware of concerns few weeks ago, we have been working with the council and other partners, including the Care Quality Commission, to make sure these concerns are being addressed as a matter of urgency.”
In a statement to ITV News Lifeways said, “We are of course, deeply sorry where any failures occur. Everyone deserves to feel safe, cared for and respected. Fortunately, among the thousands of hours of care we have provided Mikey, and for all of those we care for, incidents like those which have been brought to our attention are rare. “
“Since 2022, we have been delivering a Transformation Plan that has resulted in the quality of our care, as well as the satisfaction of those for whom we care, improve. We know there is always more we can do. This is especially true [at Mikey’s accommodation] where we know that more needs to be done for the property to meet our high standards.”
Lifeways also says within the last year they have implemented a full review of the accommodation and all risk assessments, delivered 871 hours of training, and the area manager has met with all family members to provide them with information about how to raise concerns.
Who are Lifeways?
Lifeways is one of the biggest providers of residential and supported living care for disabled adults in the UK. Their 10,000 members of staff support more than 4,000 vulnerable adults with learning disabilities, autism, mental health problems, acquired brain injuries and physical disabilities across more than 100 locations, as well as in their own homes.
Most Lifeways contracts are publicly funded, from NHS contracts or local authorities. According to public procurement analysts Tussell, Lifeways has received almost £1.5 billion in taxpayer money since 2016.
Unlike Mikey, 32-year-old Jonny Howsley has the words to describe his experience.
He has been a resident at a supported living block in Greater Manchester since 2016. He has Duchenne, the most aggressive and life-limiting form of muscular dystrophy.
He is physically disabled, relies on a ventilator to breathe, and needs support with daily tasks including eating and drinking, using the toilet and moving from his wheelchair.
He relies on Lifeways to provide some of his care, including essential overnight staff, who he contacts via an intercom system when he needs to use the toilet, or check his breathing equipment is working. The Lifeways care that Jonny receives costs more than £3,000 a month.
Jonny tells ITV News he has been left buzzing the intercom, sometimes for hours, with no carers responding to him.
In 2017, he says he was left needing the toilet for two hours, resulting in a kidney infection and Jonny being hospitalised.
Videos recorded by Jonny last month show him waiting on several occasions for over 20 minutes for a carer to attend to him.
“It does make it upsetting when you just feel like no one is coming. I’ve been buzzing and buzzing and just nothing is happening,” Jonny says.
“I don’t want to degrade myself to wetting myself,” he says. “Even though I know I could resolve it and be comfortable, I just don’t feel like I could cross that line to make myself do that.
“It just makes you feel forgotten about. Like my basic needs don’t really matter.
“It can make you feel a bit worried because if it was something major…if my ventilator disconnects, I can manage for about a minute, but I’d be gasping for air and in my mind I know I wouldn’t manage.
“It’s literally a life-or-death situation.”
Jonny also raised concerns with Lifeways about what he claims to be a lack of staff training on the correct way to move from his wheelchair.
Jonny suffered a broken hip in July 2022 as carers ‘rolled’ him from his wheelchair to his bed – a standard part of his care.
“I just suddenly feel something give, and a loud crack. The noise just repeated in my head for ages,” Jonny says.
“I’m still on painkillers to this day for it. The pain was a lot.”
Jonny told ITV News that he believes a lack of training among his support staff and errors being made in the movement, in the weeks and months running up to the July 2022 incident, as well as the incident itself, was to blame for the break.
“It’s crucial that people are shown the correct way to roll me and what to do with my leg. They just weren’t shown properly,” he tells us.
Jonny’s condition is degenerative and complex; his reduced bone density means he has an increased risk of broken bones. An investigation found Lifeways was not at fault for this incident.
Until 2022, his care was delivered exclusively by Lifeways, but Jonny told us he was so dissatisfied with Lifeways care that he requested a ‘personal health budget’, where he can choose and employ carers directly.
Still reliant on Lifeways for part of his care, and with his needs becoming more complex, Jonny worries about his future.
Lifeways told ITV News in a statement: “We deeply regret the distress and hurt which Jonny suffered and our CEO will be meeting him soon.”
“Lifeways delivers support as commissioned. [At Jonny’s accommodation] we’re funded to provide one night worker to every six people. If a support worker can’t immediately help one person, it’s likely they’ll be dealing with one of the other five people who also have complex needs.
“The number of support workers on duty is determined by the funding provided by the government. There is no doubt that there needs to be a wider debate on the funding of social care in the UK.”
A spokesperson for Trafford Council, responsible for adult social care in Jonny’s area, said: “We take these allegations very seriously and we are investigating them as a safeguarding concern.”
In an interview with ITV News, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the latest findings of our investigation “horrific”.
“It’s really shocking what you’ve uncovered. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are now all over this.
“I would accept that not only are care standards falling short in too many cases, and you’ve uncovered some really horrific examples, but also the regulator has been failing to do its job.”
“If you cant even have confidence in the regulator how can you have confidence in care providers?
“That is why we put in place new leadership…they are already stepping up the quality of the work and inspections but there is more to do.”
“Clearly some services are falling short, and when they do, I expect there to be action and I’ll be following progress on this very closely,” he added.
Layla Moran MP, chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee told ITV News that our report showed ‘clear neglect’.
She said: “The fact it’s costing thousands of pounds to deliver care like that…that’s a sign that there’s something deeply broken in the system.”
She added that “no-one is going to stand” for taxpayer money being spent on on care that “fundamentally is not meeting the needs of some of the most vulnerable in society.”
In a statement to ITV News, a spokesperson for Lifeways said: “We provide over 13 million hours of care for more than 4,000 people every year… We do all we can to ensure that our care is of the highest quality…
“It is always a cause for concern if we fall short of our high standards. We’re constantly striving to improve the quality of our care which is why we’re creating a new Family Panel to provide additional scrutiny and recommendations to further enhance the quality of care we provide across all our services.”
“In August 2022, our then newly appointed CEO Andrea Kinkade launched a Transformation Plan. Backed up by over £10 million worth of investment, since then, the satisfaction of those we care for, and our staff, has improved.”Rebecca Bauers, Care Quality Commission Director for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People, said: “The issues reported to ITV are clearly very distressing – no one should be put at risk due to poor care and where we need to, we will and have taken immediate action to protect people.
“We are monitoring Lifeways Community Care Limited closely, including carrying out inspections and are in regular contact with the Department for Health and Social Care regarding our findings.
“We are working hard to improve our regulatory oversight, including increasing the number of inspections we do to give the public confidence in quality of care.”
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 