Dementia sufferer, 90, given 24 hours to quit care home
A FRAIL dementia patient aged 90 was given just a day to find a new place to live after the sudden closure of her care home.
Belinda Meteyard was evicted with 24 hours notice after her son turned up to find other residents being turfed out.
Elliott House in Herne Bay, Kent, closed four days after a Care Quality Commission inspection.
Two years ago, the CQC found residents “were not always treated with dignity” and a lack of staff.
Business bosses blamed the closure on the pandemic but did not explain the lack of notice. Most of the 46 residents were given 48 hours but Belinda “slipped between the cracks” at social services.
Her son Jez arrived last Thursday to take his mum for a hospital appointment and found the place “full of cars”.
He said: “I was absolutely fuming. When I placed my mum there it took me a good month of trying to find the right one – but this time I had to find one in 24 hours.
“We came back from the hospital and I manically tried to find somewhere to place her.”
Jez said his mum, a wheelchair user, had enjoyed Elliott House and there were residents “in tears”. He also said “staff were in tears – their jobs are gone”.
He found a care home for Belinda near Canterbury.
Kent County Council said it had been working for “necessary improvements” prior to the closure.
It also said all residents had suitable accommodation by 4pm last Friday.
CQC inspections chief Hazel Roberts said when the home was inspected on the Monday bosses “informed us of their intention to close the service”. Elliott House said it had remained open until all residents were placed. A spokesman added: “Our problems stem from the Covid pandemic and we’re in a position of unsustainability going forward.”