Residents forced out as care home axed

ELDERLY residents will be forced to move from their nursing home – which families today warned may have fatal consequences.

Hopes that Cockenzie House Nursing Home would be saved were dashed after last-minute talks between the owner and East Lothian Council failed.

Now relatives, local doctors and community leaders say some of the 42 patients will not survive a move.

Owner James McDonald says he can no longer afford to run it because of a ban on new admissions following a damning report by the Care Commission.

The council made an offer to buy the home last week, but Mr McDonald has turned it down and the home is to close its doors at the end of March.

The council, which this week took a lease on the 22-bed Greenfield Park Home in Musselburgh, is trying to find all Cockenzie House residents new homes.

But families today hit out at the council and the Care Commission for failing to find a solution to keep the home open.

Jean Berry, of Prestonpans, is deeply concerned about her mother Alison Scott, 87, who has been a resident for three years. She says she has never had any complaints about the standard of care.

She said: "I don't think my mother will survive the move. I think a lot of people with relatives in the home will say the same.

"My mother wouldn't be here today if she wasn't being looked after. She's got to be fed, washed, dressed and moved. She doesn't even know her family any more.

"A lot has to be said for the staff. The nurses have years of experience. We just thought she would be there until her last days.

"I'm really angry. We just feel the council should be listening, but they don't give a damn. The Care Commission should be called the 'don't care commission'".

A report by the Care Commission last year criticised standards of healthcare, nutrition and food hygiene and gave the home a strict timetable to carry out improvements.

This led to East Lothian Council not renewing its contract with the home in November.

Mr McDonald, who had been running Cockenzie House Nursing Home for 21 years, said the home had made significant improvements, but that he could not afford to keep it going.

He offered to lease it to East Lothian Council, but this was turned down. Eighty staff members will now have to find new jobs. He said: "We just don't seem to be able to get the ban lifted. It just beggars belief.

"The worst thing is moving these people. Everybody in the community, from doctors to church leaders to relatives, is dumbfounded.

"I think they want to get rid of me. In order to do that, they're going to have to move 40 old folk. I consider that to be adult abuse.

"Many of those old folk will die. It's statistically proven that if you take elderly people to new surroundings, some will die."

He said he could not accept the council's "blind offer" to buy the home since they could not give him a definite price. The price would only have been agreed by the district valuer.

Many concerned relatives attended a meeting at the care home last night.

Jim Elder, of Musselburgh, said he was confident his 87-year-old aunt Sarah was well cared for at the home. She has been there for 13 years and is its longest-serving resident.

He said: "She has vascular dementia. She's been used to the same faces and the same routine. I think there's every chance her health will suffer if she has to move.

"The staff are lovely and very friendly. They know Aunt Sarah, and there's been a good continuity of staff, which you don't get in many homes.

"I just feel so sorry for them all. I've had a couple of girls at the home on the verge of tears. They don't want to leave the residents."

Reverend Robert Glover, of Chalmers Memorial Church in Port Seton, said: "What strikes me is the absolute heart-wrenching anguish of the residents and staff.

"We just know that residents are fading away. There have been more deaths there in the last three months than ever before.

"Residents are very, very worried. They might get somewhere that's more modern, but they're going to lose out on the familiarity of being in a place they know. The staff are just devastated.

"The relatives are happy with the home. The doctors are happy with the home. The only people who are not happy are the Care Commission."

East Lothian MSP Iain Gray said he felt the council had not done enough to keep the home open.

He said: "It's clear that the residents and relatives would like their care to continue at Cockenzie House. It just seems incredible that the council, the Care Commission and Mr McDonald could not find a way through.

"I think the offer that was made by the council appears to be not much more than a sham.

"He was given 48 hours to consider an offer of unknown valuation, which he couldn't accept.

"What's equally strange is they are refusing to consider a lease of Cockenzie House, but are taking a lease of a home in Musselburgh.

"I think the residents are going to suffer and so are the staff."

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council said care workers are now discussing the options with each resident and their family.

She said: "What we have to do is to ensure the continuity of care for residents. Greenfield Park has become another option.

"The council offered an independent valuation of the property, but Mr McDonald refused. He thinks he can achieve more on the open market."

She added: "We have to know exactly what's happening. We can't wait until March 31 to move 42 people to new homes."

Moving elderly 'could be fatal'MOVING elderly residents could have fatal consequences, according to a local GP and a leading charity.

Dr Jonathan Turvill, of the nearby Harbours Medical Practice in Cockenzie, said the residents' health would be at risk if they moved.

He provides medical care to the home and said he was worried about what would happen to the residents.

He said: "We are deeply concerned about the fate of the residents. Patients suffering from dementia find it particularly difficult to settle in new surroundings and retain good health.

"I think it's well known that residents who are moved to other homes have an increased health risk and are more likely to die.

"We feel the Care Commission has been Draconian. The report did not accord with our observations.

"We feel that the important things about the care were good, although there were matters needing attention."

His views were backed up by campaign group Age Concern.

A spokeswoman said:

"People are losing their homes, their community and their friends, and their health may be put at risk.

"It's essential the process is handled sensitively."