Aberdeen City Council Paid £60K To firm For Looking After 14 Dead Care-Home Residents

A COUNCIL forked out £60,000 to a care firm – to look after 14 residents who were DEAD.

Southern Cross Healthcare Group, the UK’s biggest care-home provider, kept on collecting the cash and failed to tell council officials about the deaths.

The money was paid out by Aberdeen City Council over an eight-month period between August 2007 and April this year.

The blunder only emerged when the mother of deputy council leader Kevin Stewart was billed in April for the care of her father – five months after he had died.

An inquiry was launched and it found the company had continued to charge the council for 14 of 19 residents after they had died, costing taxpayers £60,000.

It involved residents at six of Southern Cross’s 12 Aberdeen care homes – Bucksburn Care Home, the Cowdray Club, Devanha Gardens Care Centre, Maryfield East Care Centre, Maryfield West Care Centre and Persley Castle home.

Kevin Stewart’s grandfather, Sandy Morrice, who died last November aged 83, was at the Bucksburn home.

Stewart, the council SNP group leader, said it had been “immensely upsetting”.

He said: “It is bad enough losing a relative without being billed months later.

“It’s even more galling to find out that a company has been charging the council for the care of a relative who had passed away.”

Kevin’s mother Sandra Stewart received a letter from Southern Cross informing her of changes to the payment, which she had been making jointly with the council.

Fellow councillor Jackie Dunbar took up the case. She said: “As soon as Kevin’s mum phoned me I contacted council officers who were also shocked and horrified this had happened.

“I just find a situation like this totally unacceptable.”

A spokeswoman for Aberdeen City Council said that it was “satisfied” there had been no criminal activity and that it was simply an “unfortunate mistake”.

The company apologised and repaid the £60,000.

A Southern Cross spokesman said: “All the money owed to Aberdeen City Council was repaid in full immediately. We apologise to all concerned.”

The council currently has 43 residents in Southern Cross homes, at a cost of £8million a year.

Opposition Labour group spokesman Willie Young feared the episode may reflect badly on the city council – plunged into crisis after £50million of budget cuts this year.

He said: “Once again we are being laughed at by because of another council blunder. It seems the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing.”