‘Appalled at this cruel, callous act’

THIS care provider served an elderly, frail, wheelchair-bound resident with a 28-day period of notice to quit her home.

If this wasn’t bad enough, when her daughter was struggling to secure another care home in the middle of a pandemic, the managers refused to offer an extension.

This deserves our complete and utter condemnation.

It was only our last-minute intervention directly to the chief executive of this care group which secured an extra two weeks. Think about that. An elderly, sick resident reliant on care being told she would have to quit her home.

Lisa Burford lost the trust she would have built up with her carers and lost the friendships she made in Tennyson Wharf.

Unfeeling

The heartache and stress caused to her and her family was out of all proportion to the so-called “crime” of being waved at from a public footpath by her husband. By any decent person’s standards this action, this type of summary eviction, is brutal and unfeeling.

There are instances when a resident may be asked to leave, but there should be a clause in the contract guaranteeing a three-month notice period.

Mrs Burford was paying £1,375 a week “rent”. If she had been an ordinary tenant she would have been guaranteed a three-month notice period.

We are appalled that this dire practice can happen in the private care home sector, with no independent authority to support families and residents faced with such an apparently cruel and callous act.

● Barchester Health Care said: “We understand this has been incredibly difficult for family and friends who are missing loved ones, but the safety and wellbeing of our residents is our utmost priority.”