Former Labour leader intervenes in row over care home closed in 24 hours

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has intervened after a care home in Doncaster was closed within 24 hours.

The Doncaster MP is to raise last month’s closure of Warneford House with the council, the Doncaster Free Press reported.

After meeting staff formerly employed at the home, Mr Miliband said he was sorry what they and residents had gone through, adding he would be writing to the council.

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The home, which is owned by UK Medi-Care Associates, was closed after concerns were raised over the lack of management and inadequate standards of care provided.

Defending the decision to close the home, Karen Johnson, assistant director of adult social care and safeguarding, said: “We simply could not leave the residents in this home overnight. It was not safe and they were seriously at risk. So we stepped in to ensure older and vulnerable people in this home were safe and cared for.

“The home was seriously understaffed and no one was in charge. Even though the operational manager offered to step in, there was no clear plan about how they were going to make things safe and we could not risk leaving people there.

“We had severe concerns about medication, a not fit for purpose environment within the home and lack of supervision and sadly not enough food on site. So given these concerns, which we first raised in January, we had to act. Paperwork is not at the root of our concerns, although not adequate, it was the safety and well-being of these residents so we had to act and quickly.

“We monitored the home with a range of experts and together we agreed that residents were not in a safe place so we arranged for them to find homes that would care for them in a way we thought they deserved to be. No one was thrown into the street.”