| It is understood the council has officially given notice to Charles Mainoo, the man in whose name Westbay is registered as a nursing home, stating that the agreement between the two parties will end on December 15, the date the council originally gave for the closure of Janet Brougham House.
In so doing, the council appears to have rejected pleas from families of the residents and Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie, who has been acting on their behalf, for a moratorium on the closure.
The fire at the Broughty Ferry home left 32 residents homeless, but the council managed to find places in other private nursing homes for most of them. However, 10 have been staying in the council home, cared for by Westbay staff, since May.
News that this arrangement is being brought to an end just 10 days before Christmas prompted fresh condemnation from Mr Hosie, who just last week appealed on behalf of carers for a “stay of execution” for the residents.
The SNP MP said he was still at a loss to explain why the council could not have extended the residents’ stay in Janet Brougham House until the New Year at least, adding, “I will be writing to social work director Alan Baird to formally place in black and white my deep unhappiness at what has happened.”
Of the two alternative homes suggested for the residents, one was in Newtyle and unsuitable for people without transport and the other was privately-owned Harestane Nursing Home.
Carer Stephen Dolan said, “What if everyone wants their relative to move to Harestane and there aren’t enough beds there? What happens then? Will the council just throw my mum out or force one of us to take her in?
“The council has said it doesn’t need Airlie Wing where the residents are just now for anything else, so why not just let them stay there a while longer? The whole thing is a total joke.”
The council today confirmed it had responsibility for finding suitable accommodation for the elderly residents, even if the Harestane and Newtyle homes were deemed unsatisfactory by their families. |
