AN ageing council-run care home is set to close, with residents moved to a new privately run facility across the city.
The Liberton Gardens home will shut in February and transfer the bulk of staff and residents to the new home in Merchiston.
But while the city council maintains the move is necessary because the building is no longer "fit for purpose", staff have
spoken of their job fears and the impact of moving very frail residents.
At a well-attended meeting, workers grilled council chiefs not only about their own careers, but the quality of care provided.
One source working in the home said: "Everyone's worried about this. We had a meeting and there were all kind of concerns, and it seems the council have been keeping this very quiet.
"We're all worried because we will no longer be council employees and have to work for a private company.
"You always worry about the standards when things go private, because it becomes a money- making exercise.
"Some of the people here are in their 90s, and they're really happy and don't want to move to a strange home that could be miles from their friends and family."
Liberton Gardens on Little Road currently employs more than 40 staff and has 45 beds. The city council says the building is difficult and expensive to heat, while toilet, shower and bath facilities are shared.
Every room at the Four Seasons-run North Merchiston home, which will be completed in January, is en-suite, and council chiefs believe a better standard of life will be enjoyed by residents.
It is one of several care homes expected to open in coming years, and pioneers a gradual shift away from the old-style homes set up in former mansions.
In the long term, it should also provide more bed spaces, which will help ease the bed-blocking problem in the Capital, and ensure health and safety standards are met in the city's facilities.
A council spokeswoman said: "While the quality of care provided in Liberton Gardens Care Home is of a high standard, the building is no longer fit for purpose. A brand new care home, built to modern standards, is being opened at North Merchiston in January, and the residents from Liberton have been offered places there."
The full article contains 395 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
