Home For Disabled Halts Admissions

A pioneering home for disabled young adults has been closed to new residents amid a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault.

{mosimage}Watchdogs yesterday confirmed they have imposed a moratorium on admissions to the Camphill community in Blair Drummond, a stately home in Stirlingshire next to Scotland’s only safari park. The ban, which the centre hopes to see lifted soon, came after police were called to look into an incident between two residents this summer.

It followed a separate investigation into what Camphill community called a “malicious allegation” against a member of staff, which proved to be unfounded.

Helen Munro, the chairwoman of the community’s board of trustees, said: “There was an incident involving one of our residents and another resident which led to the police being called. The young man was removed. This has been fully investigated by the police, the local social work department and the Care Commission and we are about to have the moratorium lifted.”

The moratorium was imposed by Stirling Council, which is responsible for all placements at Camphill Blair Drummond, though the centre takes young people from all over Scotland.
The facility has just been inspected by the Care Commission, the body responsible for maintaining standards at all residential care facilities.

Camphill Blair Drummond will be allowed to take new residents if inspectors give it a satisfactory report.

Mrs Munro, however, yesterday said she was confident the Care Commission would pave the way for new admissions, citing “positive” meetings with inspectors.

Care facilities can be closed to new admissions as a precaution for a whole series of reasons.

A spokesman for the Care Commissionsaid: “We have been notified that the local authority has imposed a moratorium on further placements and that certain matters are being investigated by police.

“We have worked closely with the service provider, the local authority and the police throughout and have been kept updated of developments.

“We were also notified that a member of staff was temporarily suspended from duty but that they have now returned to work following a police investigation.

“We have recently undertaken an inspection of the service, a report of which is currently being finalised.”

The Blair Drummond facility – along with 10 others in the Camphill family of charities – has won praise from many professionals for the way it fosters independence among young people with learning difficulties.

A spokeswoman for Central Police said: “We can confirm that we carried out investigations into two complaints and that a report regarding the circumstances of those complaints has been submitted to the procurator-fiscal.”