Failing care home to close in two weeks

The scrutiny body successfully applied to have the registration of the Newton Mearns care home suspended at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

All 47 residents will have to be moved into new homes by Wednesday, March 21.

As reported in last week’s Extra, the owners were served with a formal improvement notice in August of last year following an inspection which raised serious concerns.

The notice listed six areas which required urgent improvement, including the way medicine is kept and administered, staff numbers, training and registration; maintaining the hygiene, health and wellbeing of residents; and residents’ care plans.

However, the Care Inspectorate said sufficient progress had not been made.

A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate said: “Our lawyers sought the urgent closure of Greenlaw Grove care home at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

“The sheriff made an order suspending the care home’s registration to take effect from March 21, 2018. We strongly welcome that. This means the home cannot continue to operate after March 21, which will help keep people safe where they would otherwise have been at significant risk.

“It is extremely rare for us to take action of this nature and we do so only when we must protect people from harm. We continue to work closely with colleagues at East Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership to ensure that residents’ needs are met and that appropriate plans are in place to ensure continuity of care for all residents of Greenlaw Grove ahead of March 21.

“We understand this will be a really worrying time for relatives and their families.

“Everyone in Scotland has the right to safe, compassionate care which meets their needs and respects their rights. Anyone with a concern about a care service is urged to contact us.”

A spokesman for Greenlaw Grove, owned by Thistle Healthcare Ltd, said: “While we’re obviously disappointed by this decision, we’ll do everything we can to support our residents and their families during what will be a very difficult time.

“Our strong preference was for a longer timescale to allow a smoother transition to alternative accommodation for our residents and their families, who remain our number one concern.”