Published: Friday, 11th January, 2008 09:30
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THE future of East Lothian’s largest nursing home has been thrown into doubt – leading to great anxiety among its 54 elderly residents and 80 staff – after its owner announced he intended to withdraw his registration with the Care Commission.
Cockenzie House Nursing Home is now in danger of closure, much to the concern of politicians, GPs, and residents’ relatives.
Jim McDonald, owner for the past 20 years, says he’s losing too much money to continue his business due to the Care Commission’s refusal to lift a ban on new admissions imposed six months ago following a highly-critical official report into standards at the 70-bed facility.
He has offered to lease Cockenzie Nursing Home to the council to try and ensure its long-term survival.
He said: “I have sent the Care Commission my voluntary cancellation of care service registration.
“At our meeting on October 18, I informed the council that I would continue to run the nursing home until the end of the year in the hope that by that time the Care Commission would have lifted its ban on admissions (which they have not).
“Financial considerations are not the only reasons for my cancellation. The Care Commission, by its relentless pursuit of micro-management by paper, has lost sight of Cockenzie House’s reason for being.”
County MSP Iain Gray is seeking urgent talks with the Care Commission and East Lothian Council says it is “surprised and disappointed” at Mr McDonald’s announcement to quit his registration on April 2.
The Care Commission and the local authority were criticised by GPs at Harbours Medical Practice in Port Seton last October for their dealings with the home.
The GPs, who had claimed lives could be at risk if the premises closed, said then that the Commission’s report into alleged poor standards at the home was “breathtaking in its insensitivity and incompetence”.
The doctors added that the home provided an excellent service to residents and claimed that the council’s decision not to renew its individually negotiated three-year contract, which saw the local authority use the nursing home’s beds for respite and emergency care purposes, was a “disastrous blunder”.
In reponse, the local authority, which wants to see more needy elderly residents looked after in their own homes, highlighted that Cockenzie House had been offered the same national care home contract for the use of its beds as the other nursing homes in the county.
Last November, the council and Mr McDonald subsequently agreed a new short-term contract on reduced terms to allow him to meet improvement targets set by the Care Commission.
Then he warned that the new arrangement would make it financially impossible to maintain the nursing home beyond the spring unless the Care Commission relented, as he had 17 beds lying empty.
County MSP Iain Gray said this week: “ I was extremely concerned to hear of Mr McDonald’s decision.
“The innocent victims in all of this are the residents of Cockenzie House whose care seems to be in jeopardy again.
“It is now many months since I attended a crisis meeting at Cockenzie House with relatives and local councillors and the relatives’ worry goes on.
“Surely we can find a way to resolve this and secure the residents’ care for the long-term? This should preferably be in Cockenzie House, as moving vulnerable older people can be a risk in itself.”
Councillor Ruth Currie, East Lothian Council’s cabinet member for adult social services, said: “We are surprised and disappointed that Mr McDonald has taken the decision that he no longer wishes to run Cockenzie House Nursing Home.
“This follows both the Care Commission extending the deadline for compliance with the terms of its improvement notice and also the signing of a new contract with East Lothian Council securing national care home agreement rates for all residents placed by us in Cockenzie House.”
Dr Sue Ross, the council’s director of community services, added: “We are continuing to liaise with Mr McDonald to enable us to determine how best the needs and requirements of residents can be catered for, given his decision as owner to close.”
Port Seton resident Donald Sowden, 80, whose wife Dorothy is a resident at Cockenzie House, said he understood why Mr McDonald had made the decision.
But he added: “My worry now is what happens to the residents.”
Dr Jon Turvill, of nearby Harbours Medical Practice, has been at the forefront of the community campaign in support of the home.
He admitted: “We are apprehensive about the future of the residents, as it seems likely they will have to move.”
Depute council leader and local ward member, Councillor Stuart Currie, told the Courier last year that Cockenzie Hous residents would not be abandoned by the local authority.
He told the full council meeting in October: “If any care home owner chooses to close his premises this council has a legal responsibility to make sure it remains open.”
Labour group leader, Councillor Willie Innes, said he was “really disappointed” at the development.
“I don’t think the council has done enough in working with Mr McDonald to resolve the issues with the Care Commission,” he said.
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