Families criticise CQC over Surrey homes closures

By The Press Association26th January 2015News EnglandCare Homes, News England, Older People

The families of two frail and elderly pensioners who died after being urgently moved from “appalling” care homes have criticised the Government’s watchdog for the rushed closures.

Alfred Dodd, 85, and 91-year-old Winifred Lake have been named for the first time since their deaths, which occurred days after being evacuated from private care homes Merok Park in Surrey and nearby Grantley Court in Sutton, respectively.

Their families fear the sudden closures of the sister homes, which happened within days of each other in December, caused the dementia sufferers stress and anxiety and demanded better planning when relocating vulnerable people.

The family of Mr Dodd added that they were in “total shock” that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) failed to publish their early concerns about Grantley Court for eight months and believe it could have led to uncovering problems at Merok Park.

Residents of Merok Court were forced to wait for late ambulances in the dark on a bitterly cold evening when the watchdog ordered the immediate closure of the home on December 9 after it declared a “serious risk” to residents.

Mr Dodd’s son Russell, who said his father died from pneumonia two days after he was moved, told the Daily Mail: “Couldn’t somebody have moved into that home and looked after those people?

“Whoever made the decision to do what they did, and the time of what they did, that was wrong.

“The CQC and social services – they are the people who have to answer the questions.”

A Surrey County Council spokesman said they had arranged alternative homes for residents within the time-frame given to them by the CQC.

The CQC had begun a closure procedure of Grantley Court when the owners of the home gave 72 hours’ notice that they were shutting it down.

The family of Mrs Lake believe her death two weeks after the closure was caused by the upheaval.

Tony Lake told the newspaper: “From then on she didn’t eat and she was reluctant to drink. The cause for her not being here now is the move.

“It was the suddenness of it – not being able to prepare for it. Lessons need to be learnt from this.”

A spokesman for Sutton Council said the decision by the owners to close meant they had to speed up the process they had started of moving residents.

“We absolutely did not want to disrupt the lives of older, vulnerable people,” he said.

“We completely sympathise with the families involved.”

Sally Warren, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of adult social care in London, said: “We are sorry that the report on Grantley Court from an inspection last January was not published until September.

“This wasn’t good enough – we know that our reports are an important source of information for the public, and that they – alongside regular monitoring visits they do themselves to check up on the safety of the people in their care – are useful for local authorities too.

“When we identified serious concerns at both Grantley Court and Merok Park, we took action straight away. The concerns at Merok Park represented a more serious immediate risk to people’s safety, so that home was closed immediately.

“The failings identified at both homes were appalling, and the provider should be ashamed of the ‘care’ their services were delivering.”