Cooriedoon now closed
The doors have closed at Cooriedoon Care Home for the last time as 34 years of caring came to a sad end.
The last two remaining residents moved out of their Whiting Bay home on Friday heading for new accommodation on the mainland, just six weeks after the shock announcement that the nursing home was to close.
The care home owner, Sandra Butler, had been given 13 weeks to effect the transfer of the patients after the North Ayrshire Health and Care Partnership had withdrawn the contract from the care home to look after the 14 residents, funded by the local authority. The two other residents at the home were funded from other sources.
All 13 of the residents who wished to remain on Arran have been rehomed in a, so far unused, wing at Montrose House, which has now been registered as a nursing home. Only two residents have left the island. The other resident has died.
The closure has led to the loss of more than 30 jobs, with only one member of staff so far understood to have been given employment at Montrose House, though others are awaiting an interview.
Eleven of the staff were from the Indian sub-continent and they will shortly leave the island as they require a sponsored employer which North Ayrshire Council cannot offer. Most have found jobs on the mainland, thanks to Sandra’s care home contacts.
While some staff are using annual leave to complete their contract period, several former staff are unhappy, saying they have not received their full redundancy entitlement. However, this could not be confirmed due to contract confidentiality.
Close to tears owner Sandra said: ‘It is so sad. It was heartbreaking to see my residents leave but we pushed it to happen earlier as there was unhappy feelings beginning to creep in around the place.
‘I am pleased that the whole process was carried out with great dignity and the staff were incredible right up to the last day.’
‘I am just pleased that the residents are safe and I hope all my great staff get other jobs, but the health officials have created a huge problem on the island. It really worries me where the elderly are going to go and who will look after them.’ Brother Greg added: ‘The building just seems so empty without the residents. There was always so much life about the place.’
Built in 1900, the elegant sandstone building started life as the Whiting Bay Hotel and, in 1988, after an extensive interior renovation it reopened as Cooriedoon Nursing Home, established by mother and daughter Celia and Sandra Butler. In 2002 it became a residential and nursing home.
The owner said the Cooriedoon would shortly be put up for sale but said she hoped the building may be split into houses and flats to provide some much-needed accommodation on the island.
But there are concerns over how the Health and Social Care Partnership are going to cope with the 29 residents now at Montrose House, with a number of staff vacancies to be filled and claims that at least one nurse has been brought from the mainland and is being put up at council tax payers’ expense at an island hotel. A spokeswoman for the partnership said: ‘Our teams have been working collaboratively with the Cooriedoon Care Home manager to ensure a smooth transition for residents and their families, and the process of moving residents from Cooriedoon into their chosen new accommodation has now been completed.
‘This process was informed and determined by the needs and preferences of individual residents and their representatives. We can confirm that all residents who wished to remain on the island have been able to do so, with 13 residents choosing to move to Montrose House.
‘The residents were all moved within a six-week period and NAHSCP is incredibly grateful to all involved for supporting the moves in such a short timeframe. With thanks to all involved, including the social work teams, the staff at Cooriedoon and Montrose House care homes, and the residents and their families for their understanding.
‘Work to recruit staff for various roles on the island is currently ongoing, including filling all vacancies at Montrose House.’