A Panorama investigation will look at the working conditions overseas staff face at a Gateshead care home.
An undercover reporter for Panorama took a job as a care assistant at Addison Court in Ryton - one of 15 care homes in the North East owned by Prestwick Care - from September to November this year. The investigation came after allegations from health professionals about conditions at the home.
The care home relies heavily on workers from overseas who are eligible for a skilled worker visa. It means they can work in the UK, but they need to be sponsored by an employer. Prestwick Care employs about 180 overseas workers who are in the UK on visas - nearly a third of its staff base.
But in the investigation, which is due to air on December 17, staff tell the reporter they feel "exploited and trapped" by the firm that brought them to the UK to work, and claim their contracts prevented them from leaving. Prestwick Care denies any suggestion of systematic wrongdoing or bad practice.
One Indian nurse there told the reporter that she was unhappy in her job, but claims she felt she could not quit, because her visa was sponsored by Prestwick Care, and she believed she had no choice.
Ahmed (not his real name), came to the UK from the southern Indian state of Kerala in 2018. When he arrived, he said he was asked to sign a contract. He claims it said that if he left the company within five years, he would have to pay Prestwick Care more than £4,000, which included the money the company had already paid to the Home Office, and the legal fees for his visa.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Code of Conduct, staff should not have to pay these costs. He claims he was told: "If you don't want to stay here on that contract, you can go back to India."
Ahmed claims Prestwick Care were trying to prevent him leaving, but he nevertheless resigned after being offered a more senior role at a care home run by another company. He claims Prestwick Care then started legal action against him, claiming that he owed them more than £5,000.
Ahmed claims he was told a clause in his contract stopped him from working for any competitor care home for six months. Ahmed claims he was told he would owe his employer thousands if he left his job.
Prestwick denies that its contracts are designed to intimidate its employees and says it is now reviewing repayment clauses in all staff contracts.
The investigation also looks at how low staffing allegedly affect the standard of care at Addison Court. An NHS nurse also claims she was so worried about some residents that she made 33 safeguarding alerts over a two-year period to the local authority, Gateshead Council.
In December 2022, Prestwick Care had its licence to sponsor overseas staff suspended by the Home Office. No reason has been given for the action.
The Home Office has now "fully revoked" Prestwick Care's licence to sponsor overseas staff. Following the safeguarding reports, including from the BBC, the regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), has suspended Addison Court's "good" rating.
In a statement to the BBC, the CQC said that it was "closely monitoring Addison Court along with the other locations registered to this provider". It added that if there were immediate concerns about people's safety, "we will use our enforcement powers to keep people safe".
A spokesperson for Prestwick Care said: "Prestwick Care seeks to provide high quality care to all the residents of the Addison Court Care Home. The BCC has drawn our attention to some occasions on which we have fallen below our usual high standards.
"We are grateful and have taken immediate steps to put things right. Any suggestion that there is a systematic wrongdoing or bad practice at the care home would be unfair and inaccurate.
"The safety and well-being of our residents and staff remain paramount.
"We are fully committed to thoroughly investigating all concerns raised and taking appropriate actions as necessary. The issues between Prestwick Care and the Home Office concerning our sponsorship licence are presently before the courts and it would be wrong for us to comment further at this stage."
The full investigation, Panorama: Care Workers Under Pressure, is on BBC One at 7pm tonight (Monday) and BBC iPlayer.
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2023-12-18 06:01:00Z
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