Woes were kept secret from son at Elmgrove Care Home in Inverness
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THE son of a resident of the shut down Elmgrove Care Home is considering legal action against the operator, it has emerged.
The man, who does not wish to be named, is also concerned that he and other relatives were given little or no information about what was happening in the home, despite Elmgrove being under scrutiny by the Care Inspectorate for months.
He said the home’s management told him the watchdog group’s involvement with the Inverness home was merely concerning paperwork, and never let them know that fire safety and nourishment were among major concerns of the inspectors – revealed in a report from inspectors last month.
“I think important lessons should be learned from this,” he said. “The families were kept in the dark over what was going on.
“I think that the Care Inspectorate should consider informing resident’s relatives if there are any serious concerns or improvements required at a home they have inspected.”
The service was provided by Marchmont Homes Ltd, owned by Eleanor MacKay.
“I am looking at taking civil action against her,” he said. “We knew there were issues with staffing levels but nothing concerning feeding the residents and fire risks, because we never saw it.
“That is one of the hardest things to come to terms with. I didn’t know what was going on.”
He said his dad, who is in his 80s and lives with dementia, was in Elmgrove for five years, paying a £500 per month share with the NHS for his keep, and was one of the last of around 23 residents to be decanted when it was closed by a court order in November.
He said he appreciated that the under pressure carers were gentle and kind to the residents, but did not know that on occasion when there was no cook on duty, staff paid for residents’ food out of their own pockets.
A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate said: “The primary responsibility to communicate with residents and families lies with the care provider because they have access to contact details for residents’ families.
“We expect all care providers to communicate clearly with residents and their loved ones in circumstances such as this.
“Our colleagues at NHS Highland, who were the commissioners of the care provided at Elmgrove, did contact relatives and we are satisfied that families were made aware of concerns by them.
“Our first priority is always the health, safety and wellbeing of people experiencing care.
“Because of the seriousness of the concerns we had about the poor care experienced by residents at this care service, the Care Inspectorate swiftly sought the closure of the service through the courts, and an order was granted within seven days of our application. This left very little time for formal meetings to be arranged with families.”
The son of the former resident said NHS Highland did call a meeting, but only after the closure action was under way.
He wants to see more information communicated to relatives when there are ongoing concerns.
Related Article: Report highlights serious failings at former Elmgrove Care Home in Inverness
