Staff and residents left distressed after care home’s sudden closure

THE doors of a much-loved care home in North Devon closed last month leaving residents and staff distressed over its closure and the impact on their lives.

Liquidators have been called in to deal with the closure of Deer Park Care Home in Holsworthy which housed 34 residents and employed around 50 members of staff as well as agency workers.

It closed on Wednesday, March 27 – just two weeks after residents were suddenly informed they would need to urgently find new homes and staff were told they would have to find new jobs as the home was to ‘cease trading.’

Carers at the home, who have asked to remain anonymous in fear of the impact it may have on future employment, have spoken out to raise concerns about the demise of the care home and the way the situation was handled by owner Holsworthy Health Care Ltd.

It has appointed MB Insolvency to assist the company with a creditors’ voluntary liquidation. According to some employees who worked at Deer Park, many residents have been moved out of the area and some staff are still looking for work and are worried about how they will pay their bills.

One staff member said: “It’s been awful. When I asked one resident how she was doing after being told the news, she said, ‘I will be all right, I’ll be dead soon.’ Another resident was really upset and said, ‘you’re my best friend.’”

“Another resident, who has lived in Holsworthy all of his life, has now had to move to Westward Ho! I think only around five residents have been able to stay in the area.

“We had a resident who had been at Deer Park for about 10 years.

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The staff are most upset with the treatment of the residents and their families

Luckily he has stayed in Holsworthy but he said to me, ‘why do I have to move out of my home?’

“The residents were told by a letter put in their bedrooms. It should’ve been said to family members first as some of our residents don’t have the capacity. Some families were told but not all received emails.

“We worked tirelessly to find the residents all homes within a very short time. They should have been given 28 days. When the notice of closure was given, it was made clear there was no time frame but then 48 hours later everyone had 14 days.

“The staff are most upset with the treatment of the residents and their families. It came out of nowhere.

“The staff come together to work to make sure the residents’ last days at Deer Park were as enjoyable as they could offering endless support.”

Staff say they were informed of the care home’s closure after being called to attend an ‘extremely important meeting’ on March 12, but weren’t given a date when its doors would close initially.

Staff have praised how the care home has been turned around in recent years after being rated inadequate in 2020.

The home in Rydon Road was then rated as requires improvement by health watchdog Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January 2023.

No reason has been confirmed by Holsworthy Health Care Ltd for its closure, despite attempts made by the Journal to contact the company for a comment.

Care home staff member