East Lothian Courier | News | Deaths warning issued if elderly forced to move

Published: Thursday, 25th October, 2007 09:00

Deaths warning issued if elderly forced to move

HEALTH professionals at the front-line of East Lothian’s latest nursing home crisis have warned of potentially fatal consequences should the local authority fail to renew its existing contract with the county’s largest care establishment.

Local doctors, nursing staff and carers at under-threat Cockenzie House Nursing Home believe some of the 54 residents would not survive the trauma if closure and relocation occurred.

Dr Donald Bremner, of nearby Harbours Medical Practice, said: “Being moved elsewhere is the last thing any elderly resident wants. It puts extreme stress on the person and their family and can result in the death of patients.”

Staff carer Sara Alexander added: “If the residents had to be moved elsewhere, probably half of them could die from the trauma. A lot of them have been here for years.”

The warnings came as the full impact of the home’s possible closure on Cockenzie and Port Seton began to emerge.

This tight-knit coastal community relies heavily on the salaries of the 80 people who work for the Burgh’s second biggest employer after ScottishPower.

While the imposing 450ft twin towers of coal-fired Cockenzie Power Station have dominated the skyline for the past four decades, it is the menacing shadow cast by a highly controversial decision that has darkened the mood on the streets.

Cockenzie House is fighting for its survival as East Lothian Council looks set not to renew the terms of its existing contract with owner/manager Jim McDonald. The three-year deal, which sees the nursing home’s 70 beds used for respite and emergency care, delayed hospital discharges and long-stay purposes, is due to expire on November 17.

The council, keen to direct future resources more towards domiciliary care support and not to develop further places within residential and nursing homes, has stressed that it would still contract with Mr McDonald, but instead on an individual bed-by-bed basis, when need dictates.

But Mr McDonald, who has been ordered to undertake extensive modernisation works following a Care Commission investigation which criticised standards of health care, nutrition and food hygiene, says he needs the financial security of the existing council contract to be able to proceed with his plans.

The regulatory body has, for the meantime, stopped Cockenzie House and Tranent Nursing Home – where police are probing two deaths – from receiving any further admissions.

The crisis prompted Dr Bremner and his six fellow GPs, who provide medical care to the home, to take the unusual step of writing an open letter to the council and to local councillors, condemning the reduced contract decision and also criticising the heavy-handed approach and “breathtaking incompetence” of the Care Commission’s investigators.

Said Dr Bremner: “There is a severe problem with delayed discharges from hospitals in East Lothian and Edinburgh.

“We believe that this is due in large part to the closure of two nursing homes in East Lothian to admissions pending resolution of Care Commission enquiries. Respite care is a core element of the (Cockenzie) nursing home’s services. If the council don’t renew their contract then where are all the residents going to go?”

He added: “Sending that letter was not something we did lightly. We felt that some of our councillors should have got more involved.”

The GPs say that the shortage of available respite beds in East Lothian is already putting lives at risk. In the last three months, doctors at the practice have had to send two patients needing respite care to nursing homes outside the county.

One was admitted to a home in Bathgate, the other to a home in Jedburgh, because of the lack of places available locally at that time. The problem, say the doctors, is only getting worse.

“The council wants people to be cared for in their own home, but in order to do that you need to have (an adequate) system of respite care,” said Dr Bremner.

“I worry that as a society, we are not giving enough priority to the care of the elderly.”

The pressure on respite accommodation is underlined by Mr McDonald, who last year took more than 100 respite admissions from all over East Lothian. Those did not include emergency respite admissions where a carer takes ill, or is hospitalised.

Meanwhile, workers at Cockenzie House admit they are finding the situation increasingly unsettling.

Carer Jocelyn McKinlay, who stays in nearby Barga Court, joined the staff last year from ELCAP.

She said: “It has been hard for the staff since the Care Commission inspectors came here in May. While the situation is unsettling, we have to keep our focus on the residents. They are the ones most at risk.”

Housekeeper Isobel Taylor, of Hungerage Square, Tranent, has worked at Cockenzie House for 17 years and is one of the home’s longest-serving employees.

“This job is my life,” she said.

“ The residents are like family to me. I fear what what might happen if the place were to close.”

Carer Sara Alexander, 30, of Middleshot Square, Prestonpans, joined staff six months ago. Husband Fernie is currently doing an honours degree in engineering and computing at Napier University, meaning she must provide for him and their two young children. She previously worked for East Lothian Council in domiciliary care.

“The situation is very unsettling,” she said.

I’ve got a family to support and losing my job now is unthinkable.

“It is easy to focus on the job because you know the residents rely on you.”

Kitchen assistant and single mum Lisa Logan, 38, of High Street, Cockenzie, has worked at the home for seven years. Her daughter, Jamie-Lee, 19, also works at the home as a carer.

Ms Logan said: “I am having trouble sleeping at night. I am wondering whether I am going to have a job after next month. I am wondering what is going to happen to the residents.

“Everyone in Cockenzie is right behind us. This place is at the heart of the community. the news has come as a massive shock.”

Deputy nurse manager Fiona Innes, 50, of Lindores Drive, Tranent, joined as staff nurse in 1995. The mother-of-two said: “There is no way the residents could survive in the community. They need 24-hour nursing care.

“I was shocked when the Care Commission inspectors came here. I was not prepared for the onslaught. l affront. I have been in this profession for 30 years and I would never compromise my registration by working in a place where I felt the standard of care was not up to scratch. I would be the first to report any signs of malpractice or neglect.”

All but three of the 54 residents presently at Cockenzie House are from East Lothian. One of the “incomers” is 86-year-old Isabella Robbie, who moved into the home from Edinburgh 10 years ago when she took ill following the death of her husband. Daughter Joyce, who lives locally, is a regular visitor.

“I will never regard this as my home, but I am very happy here,’ she said. “The staff are very helpful and the food is always great. I don’t know why the home has been singled out for criticism.”

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