NEWS HR

A contaminated salad containing duck meat is suspected of having killed five residents of a care home for the elderly in southern France. Four women and a man, aged from 76 to 95, died after eating the salad on Sunday night. In all, 20 people at the home near Toulouse suffered vomiting and other symptoms of food poisoning. Twelve of those taken ill are in hospital, but not in grave danger. The salad ingredients, including duck foie gras (pâté), are being examined.

Social Care Wales has appointed David Pritchard as its new director of regulation.

Henry Terefenko, previously group director of communities at ForViva, will be chief executive of ForHousing, which manages 24,000 homes across the North West of England, in Fylde, Knowsley, Oldham and Salford.

Retirement Villages Group Ltd has appointed Will Bax new Chief Executive.

Residential Secure Income (ReSI), which invests in affordable shared ownership, retirement and local authority housing, has appointed Gillian Rowley as an independent non-executive director of its Registered Provider of Social Housing, ReSI Housing Limited.

The housing association BPHA has appointed the former Saffron chief executive Francesco Elia as its interim chief finance officer (CFO).

Four new governors have been elected to Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust. Nicky Green will represent Keighley, David Pearson Craven and Surji Cair Shipley. Elected to the Rest of England constituency was Safeen Rehman. Following an induction, they will take-up their posts on May 1.

A woman has been accused of deliberately putting spicy food in the meal of an elderly man while working as a caretaker at an aged-care facility. Kyra Johnson, 30, was arrested by police, following reports she fed an 81-year-old with dementia jalapeño peppers, despite her knowledge he was not accustomed to eating spicy food. Employees at the Village on the Park retirement home allegedly saw Ms Johnson “chop up and place a jalapeño pepper” in a portion of the man’s eggs and feeding them to him, even though he did not require assistance eating. Witnesses reportedly told police they saw the victim “fanning and gasping for air to cool his mouth” after unknowingly eating the jalapeño peppers. Employees alleged it was Ms Johnson’s intention to cause the man pain and suffering. A witness reportedly said: “I hope that is not hot” prior to the meal being served, with Ms Johnson allegedly replying: “I hope it is”. The man reportedly relied on help from employees in the memory care unit. Ms Johnson, who no longer works at the aged-care unit, was arrested and charged with abuse by a caretaker.