The bizarre story of a fake carer – and what it says about the UK’s care industry
She seemed perfect, at first. Her CV brimmed with all kinds of qualifications. And she had years of experience caring for vulnerable people.
As Sarah Whitaker sat at her kitchen table and looked through the paperwork the care agency had sent her, she knew that Tracy was the one she could trust to look after David, her 89-year-old dad.
Retired businessman David Seal suffered a stroke in the summer and needed more and more support at home.
He was taking a daily cocktail of strong prescription medicines and also needed help emptying his catheter bag because going to the toilet had become difficult recently.
“We need somebody experienced in stroke management and catheter care,” said Sarah. “But we also needed somebody who could drive my dad to the town and back. And somebody who was a very good cook.
“My dad chose Tracy and she arrived the next day.”
Sarah was sent Tracy’s CV and profile by Hampshire-based Access Care
Tracy came by train and, on the journey to David’s home, revealed that she could not drive because there was a problem with her licence.
Sarah saw this as a red flag. But that wasn’t all she was worried about.
“We had to teach her how to open and close the catheter because she had never seen one before. And that was a surprise given her experience.”
It got worse. Tracy couldn’t cook and once served David deep-fried Brussels sprouts for lunch. Sarah was increasingly concerned about the carer’s medicine management skills too.
“She was giving dad pills here there and everywhere. And that’s a problem because if you give my dad a pill, he’ll swallow it. Whatever it is.”
This was far removed from the carer she had read so much about.
Sarah was introduced to Tracy through an introductory care agency, Hampshire-based Access Care. When Sarah got in touch about her concerns, the agency said they were confused too.
They had never had any complaints about Tracy. She was the model carer.
And then one sunny day in early September, as David was being pushed around the village in his wheelchair by his grandchildren, one of them pulled out a mobile phone to capture the happy scene.
“As soon as Tracy saw the camera she stepped out of view as quick as a flash,” said Sarah. “And later my daughter said that it seemed odd that she didn’t want to be on camera.”
The woman who was looking after David Seal did not want to be pictured
Sarah rang the care agency again, who supplied her with a copy of Tracy’s driving licence. She looked at the video again.
“The image we had from the walk and the person in the driving licence photo were two different people.”
The next morning, Tracy – or whoever she was – packed her bags and left.
Sarah was horrified. She was left wondering who had been in her father’s house for nearly three weeks. It started to fit into place; the shoddy catheter care, the bad cooking and the poor handling of medicines.
She contacted the care agency again, who promptly contacted Tracy, who was adamant that she had been in the house caring for David.
Access Care contacted Hampshire Police. But the response was not what they expected.
A police constable replied on 4 November with disappointing news. They explained that officers had “limited lines of enquiry” and that because Tracy had denied the allegation, they would need an “independent witness” to confirm the allegation.
They seemed to be saying that they would not investigate, adding that it would be deemed “not in the public interest” to send a police officer to interview Tracy in person at her home, despite having her address.
Sarah said she only found out later that ‘Tracy’ was ‘two different people’
The police were clearly not interested and showed no signs of investigating. So as part of our investigation into this story, we tracked down Tracy to an address and decided to pay her a visit. To get her side of the story.
I arrived at a large housing estate and saw Tracy backing her car into the drive at the back. I approached her and said I wanted to speak to her about her work as a carer in David’s home.
At first, she said that she had worked very hard to provide the best care but that the family were not happy. She was very clear that she had lived in the home for nearly three weeks. No question about it.
But when I confronted Tracy with the photo evidence from the sunny village walk, her tone changed. She took in deep breath and sighed.
“I don’t know how to explain this,” she said slowly. “It’s so bad. Very bad. I’m sorry.”
Tracy admitted to Sky News she sent a friend to care for David
Tracy explained to me that she had asked a friend to do the care job in her place, admitting that her friend was not a trained carer. She said nobody had forced her to do it and she had never done anything like this in the past.
She said she thought she could get away with it because the care agency never checked up on her.
“They [the agency] never met me face to face. They have to do more checks to know who is going in the house.”
The real Tracy said her care agency never checked in on her
I show Sarah the video of Tracy and her astonishing admission. “She was knowingly complicit and sent an untrained carer – a complete stranger – into the house of a vulnerable elderly man who is very ill. The nerve of the woman!”
Sarah did some research and reached out to the care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC). But to her surprise, they said they could not help.
They don’t regulate introductory care agencies like the one Sarah used to hire Tracy.
“I thought it was absolutely incredible that the CQC were not involved and I was very surprised to discover that agencies like this send carers all over the the place but aren’t regulated in any way.”
Fully managed care is regulated by the CQC, while introductory agencies – like Access Care – use self-employed carers
One of the reasons why the deception was picked up on so quickly is that Sarah lives next door to her dad. And so, we got around to talk to David and I asked him how he felt about having a stranger looking after him.
“I feel very cross about it. I feel fooled and misled,” he said. But David is also clear about another point: regulation. Or lack of it.
“There’s no point in being responsible for the care industry if you’re only dealing with people who are registered with you. It is quite pointless.”
A spokesperson for the Care Quality Commission told Sky News: “We appreciate the distress this incident has caused both Mr Seal and Mrs Whitaker, however as neither introductory agencies or self-employed carers are covered by CQC’s remit we are unable to take action in this case.
“These matters should be reported in the first instance to the local authority safeguarding team who have the remit to investigate the issue and take necessary action.
“Any questions regarding the legal framework for how health and social care is regulated in England is a matter for the government.”
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David said CQC not regulating the introductory agencies is ‘pointless’
The care sector is big business. Home care services are worth over £12bn per year and rising, according to healthcare analysts LaingBuisson.
The government has written to Chief Executives of adult social care services telling them of their so-called ‘home first’ approach to healthcare, which supports people to live independently at home rather than being cared for in hospital. Just like the kind of care David was receiving.
And as winter comes and pressure increases on the NHS, these kinds of services are relied on more than ever.
“If you can’t guarantee that the person you’re expecting is the person you get then I think the system is very flawed,” Sarah tells me.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told Sky News: “Our sympathies are with David’s family and friends in this deeply concerning case.
“This government inherited a social care system in crisis. We are committed to building a National Care Service – underpinned by national standards and delivered locally – to improve the consistency of care and ensure everyone can live an independent and dignified life.”
“A healthy NHS and social care system requires strong regulation to ensure patient and user safety and that’s why we are reforming the Care Quality Commission to make sure it is fit for purpose.”
Access Care CEO Tiggy Bradshaw also told Sky News: “We were shocked to hear of this terrible deception and are deeply sorry for what Mr Seal and his family have experienced.
“When we heard of these alarming allegations, we contacted Action Fraud and the police and commenced an urgent safeguarding review. We have been in close touch with the family throughout and will continue to collaborate with the police.
“We have strict protocols in place however these extremely unusual circumstances have given us cause for reflection.
“We are in the process of developing further security checks and procedures for families in receipt of care at home.”
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Several days after approaching Hampshire Police for comment, a spokesperson told us they were looking into the case, adding: “Officers are carrying out a number of enquiries and the incident is still under investigation to determine whether any crimes have been committed.”
Sarah meanwhile says she has been left deeply concerned by the incident.
‘If the system can be played this easily, then the system needs to change,’ Sarah said
“We knew nothing about this person who was in my dad’s home. For all I know she could have been an axe murderer,” she told Sky News.
“The fact that the carer was able to get away with it for as long as she did put the entire system in doubt.
“If the system can be played this easily, then the system needs to change.”
UK
Bodycam footage of alleged sledgehammer attack on police shown at trial of Palestine Action activists
Police bodycam footage allegedly shows a Palestine Action activist attacking police with a sledgehammer during a break-in at an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site, a court has heard.
Prosecutors say six members of the group wearing red boiler suits used a prison van to gain entry to an Elbit Systems UK factory in Bristol during a “meticulously organised” attack in the early hours of 6 August last year.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are jointly accused of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder. They deny all charges.
Corner denies an additional charge of causing grievous bodily harm. He is accused of striking police sergeant Kate Evans on the back with a sledgehammer at the scene, leaving her with a fracture to her lumbar spine.
PS Evans, PC Aaron Buxton and PC Peter Adams gave evidence at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday and jurors were shown police bodycam footage of officers confronting the suspects.
Officers saw a security guard covered in foam as they arrived at the factory, where activists had allegedly splattered red paint around and were smashing the company’s property with sledgehammers, the jury heard.
One clip shows a man, allegedly Corner, swinging a sledgehammer at PC Buxton as he lay on his back amid a struggle with another suspect.
“As he has reached us he has swung the sledgehammer multiple times towards me,” PC Buxton said.
“I was scared. I believe it made contact with my right calf and my work radio. I had quite considerable pain down that area of my leg following it and also I had some bruising come up.”
PC Buxton told jurors he then saw the man strike PS Evans in the back as she was kneeling down trying to arrest another suspect.
Giving evidence, PS Evans said: “I can remember looking up and PC Adams for some reason had a shocked face on him, and then I had a pain in my back.
“It was just a massive shock vibrating through my whole back, a thud on my back through my whole body extended down to my legs.”
She added: “I think I was stunned to begin with, I didn’t know what it was, I had no idea and I can remember looking round and seeing a male with a sledgehammer behind me.”
PS Evans told jurors she thought her “spine was shattered”, saying: “I can remember putting my right foot down and pain shot up.”
When other officers arrived and helped to arrest the suspects, PS Evans went to check on Corner when he complained that his handcuffs were too tight, jurors heard.
“We still have a duty of care to make sure no one is in pain,” she said. “They seemed perfectly fine to me.”
PS Evans said that Corner was accusing officers of being “complicit in genocide” and said “something about murdering babies”.
“I said something like ‘you have just hit me with a sledgehammer’, and he didn’t recognise that at all, he just started telling me I’m complicit in genocide again,” she added.
PS Evans said she needed help getting in and out of the shower after the incident and took painkillers to deal with the “intense pain”.
Jurors have heard that PS Evans was unable to work for three months after the incident.
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The court has heard that Elbit Systems UK manufactures defence technology equipment and is a UK-registered company whose parent company is based in Israel.
Jurors have been told that the allegations in this case came before Palestine Action’s proscription under terrorism laws in June.
Prosecutors told the jury that the ban is not relevant to the evidence in this case.
The trial continues.
Reports of a “board-level orchestrated coup” at the BBC are “complete nonsense”, non-executive director Sir Robbie Gibb has told MPs.
Sir Robbie, whose position on the BBC board has been challenged by critics in recent weeks, was among senior leaders, including the broadcaster’s chair, Samir Shah, to face questions from the Culture, Media and Sport committee about the current crisis.
The hearing took place in the wake of the fallout over the edit of a speech by US President Donald Trump, which prompted the resignation of the corporation’s director-general and the chief executive of BBC News, and the threat of a lawsuit from the US president.
Former BBC editorial adviser Michael Prescott wrote the memo that was leaked. Pic: PA
Former editorial adviser Michael Prescott, whose leaked memo sparked the recent chain of events, also answered questions from MPs – telling the hearing he felt he kept seeing “incipient problems” that were not being tackled.
He also said Mr Trump’s reputation had “probably not” been tarnished by the Panorama edit.
During his own questioning, Sir Robbie addressed concerns of potential political bias – he left BBC News in 2017 to become then prime minister Theresa May’s director of communications, a post he held until 2019, and was appointed to the BBC board in 2021 by Boris Johnson.
BBC board member Sir Robbie Gibb appearing before the Culture, Media and Sport committee. Pic: PA
“I know it’s hard to marry the fact that I spent two years as director of communications for the government… and my genuine passion for impartiality,” he said.
“I want to hear the full range of views… I don’t want the BBC to be partisan or favour any particular way.”
Asked about reports and speculation that there has been a “board-level orchestrated coup”, Sir Robbie responded: “It’s up there as one of the most ridiculous charges… People had to find some angle.
“It’s complete nonsense. It’s also deeply offensive to fellow board members… people of great standing in different fields.”
He said his political work has been “weaponised” – and that it was hard as a non-executive member of the BBC to respond to criticism.
‘We should have made the decision earlier’
BBC chair Samir Shah also answered questions. Pic: PA
Mr Shah admitted the BBC was too slow in responding to the issue of the Panorama edit of Mr Trump, which had been flagged long before the leaked memo.
“Looking back, I think we should have made the decision earlier,” he said. “I think in May, as it happens.
“I think there is an issue about how quickly we respond, the speed of our response. Why do we not do it quickly enough? Why do we take so much time? And this was another illustration of that.”
Following reports of the leaked memo, it took nearly a week for the BBC to issue an apology.
Mr Shah told the committee he did not think Mr Davie needed to resign over the issue and that he “spent a great deal of time” trying to stop him from doing so.
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Asked about his own position, Mr Shah said his job now is to “steady the ship”, and that he is not someone “who walks away from a problem”.
A job advert for the BBC director-general role has since gone live on the corporation’s careers website.
Mr Shah told the hearing his view is that the role is “too big” for one person and that he is “inclined” to restructure roles at the top.
He says he believes there should also be a deputy director-general who is “laser-focused on journalism”, which is “the most important thing and our greatest vulnerability”.
Earlier in the hearing, Mr Prescott gave evidence alongside another former BBC editorial adviser, Caroline Daniel.
He told the CMS committee that there are “issues of denial” at the BBC and said “the management did not accept there was a problem” with the Panorama episode.
Mr Prescott’s memo highlighted concerns about the way clips of Mr Trump’s speech on January 6 2021 were spliced together so it appeared he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.
‘I can’t think of anything I agree with Trump on’
Mr Trump has said he is going to pursue a lawsuit of between $1bn and $5bn against the broadcaster, despite receiving an official public apology.
Asked if the documentary had harmed Mr Trump’s image, Mr Prescott responded: “I should probably restrain myself a little bit, given that there is a potential legal action.
“All I could say is, I can’t think of anything I agree with Donald Trump on.”
He was later pushed on the subject, and asked again if he agreed that the programme tarnished the president’s reputation, to which he then replied: “Probably not.”
Read more:
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Why are people calling for Sir Robbie Gibb to go?
Mr Prescott, a former journalist, also told the committee he did not know how his memo was leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
“At the most fundamental level, I wrote that memo, let me be clear, because I am a strong supporter of the BBC.
“The BBC employs talented professionals across all of its factual and non-factual programmes, and most people in this country, certainly myself included, might go as far as to say that they love the BBC.
He said he “never envisaged” the fallout that would occur. “I was hoping the concerns I had could, and would, be addressed privately in the first instance.”
Asked if he thinks the BBC is institutionally biased, he said: “No, I don’t.”
He said that “tonnes” of the BBC’s work is “world class” – but added that there is “real work that needs to be done” to deal with problems.
Mr Davie, he said, did a “first-rate job” as director-general but had a “blind spot” toward editorial failings.
Police have appealed for information after a man was charged with murdering two women and raping a third.
Simon Levy has been charged with murdering 53-year-old Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo who died on the Aylesbury Estate, south-east London, on 17 March, the Metropolitan Police said.
In September, Levy, of Beaufoy Road, Tottenham, north London, was charged with murdering 39-year-old Sheryl Wilkins who was found unresponsive in High Road, Tottenham, on 24 August.
He is also accused of grievous bodily harm with intent, non-fatal strangulation and two counts of rape against a third woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in Haringey, north London, on 21 January, police said.
The 40-year-old will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with Ms Valencia-Trujillo’s murder.
Sheryl Wilkins was found unresponsive in High Road, Tottenham, on 24 August. Pic: Metropolitan Police
He is also due to appear at the Old Bailey on Wednesday for a plea and trial preparation hearing for the murder of Ms Wilkins.
Detectives believe there may be individuals who have information relevant to this investigation – or who are yet to report incidents which have directly impacted them – and are asking for people to come forward.
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