Culloden Court care staff facing axe following fire

Staff who helped with the evacuation of OAPs when a care home burned down are now facing losing their jobs.

Firefighters praised the actions of Culloden Court nursing home staff after they assisted in rescuing 59 residents from the blaze, which destroyed the home.

In addition to the 12 on-duty staff who began the rescue efforts, several more who lived nearby rushed to the scene to help.

But now Southern Cross Healthcare Group admits that up to 50 could lose their jobs.

Elizabeth Roscoe, the firm’s head of service quality in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “It’s a possibility because the care centre no longer exists.”

She said a number of jobs were available at their 750 care homes throughout the country – but only one is in Inverness. There are others in Invergordon, Forres and Fort William, but not all staff are likely to find alternative jobs locally.

An investigation is continuing into the cause of the blaze, but it is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault in the roof area.

The residents – many of whom are dementia sufferers aged over 80 – were initially taken to a temporary shelter at Smithton Primary School before being relocated to other homes throughout the Highland capital.

About 40 firefighters spent 14 hours tackling the blaze and dampening it down on the night of October 17, 2010.

Mrs Roscoe said: “This has been an absolute tragedy. It was an accident and we have to deal with that and support the staff.

“They are all still working at present.

“Shortly we will have further discussions about the staff and let them know where things are going. It’s early days yet.”

An audit is to be conducted to establish what shift patterns individuals prefer, whether they are full or part time, and where they would be willing to work.

Dawn Coleman, treasurer of Smithton Culloden Community Council, said the workers’ situation was ‘extremely sad’, particularly in the run up to Christmas.

She added: “It’s bad enough that they have lost the place that they work, but now they may lose their livelihoods as well.”