It was bad, very bad. The manager had been suspended for over a year whilst a slow-moving police investigation decided whether there was sufficient evidence to support allegation of sexual abuse. The difficulty was that they considered people with a learning disability to be unreliable witnesses. The deputy post was vacant. There was a high level of violence against staff reports. And not unrelated a high level of staff absenteeism.

There were three issues contributing to low morale and lack of leadership. The staffing levels had not kept pace with the increasing levels of dependency of residents, many  of whom presented challenging behaviour, the building was not fit for purpose, with too many corridors and hidden corners. The staff felt abandoned and had received no specialist training in caring for people with low thresholds for frustration, limited communication skills and who were prone to temper tantrums.