Published at 16:20, Friday, 15 February 2013

TWO members of staff who were sacked from a care home have won an appeal against their dismissal.

Cumbria County Council’s staffing committee upheld the appeal after two employees at Elmhurst Residential Home, in Priory Road, Ulverston, were dismissed last year.

In July, the Evening Mail reported three people had been suspended following an incident at the home.

At the time, the council confirmed the suspensions related to one incident but could not disclose details of the internal investigation.

Then in October, it said an internal investigation led to two people being sacked for “failing to meet the basic duty of care to staff and colleagues”. The third employee was cleared of allegations.

However, the council’s own staffing committee has now overruled the decision.

Elmhurst is a residential care home for the elderly that specialises in dementia care. It has 40 residents and 60 members of staff.

A spokesman for Cumbria County Council said: “We can confirm the two members of staff have been reinstated following their appeal.

“We are now looking at options for reintegrating them back into Cumbria Care.”

The council will now decide how and when the two employees should return to work.

The latest inspection of the care home, carried out by the Care Quality Commission in November 2012, found it met all the required standards.

The routine inspection followed a report from 2011 that said the care home was failing in a number of essential areas.

However, the most recent inspection found practices had improved across the board.

Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk