A liquidator has been appointed at a Forfar care home following its sudden closure by the care watchdog.
Lochbank in Forfar shut its doors last week after the Care Inspectorate cancelled the registration of the 35-bed premises.
It is three months since an improvement notice was served on the Graham Crescent home after inspectors branded it “chaotic”.
Forfar-based operator Kennedy Care Group said it was with “profound sadness” that it had taken the decision to wind down the facility.
Its other homes in Tayside, Fife and Aberdeenshire continue to operate as normal.
Lochbank residents and 32 staff have been relocated, some to other facilities within the group.
‘Extremely challenging’ time for Lochbank
Kennedy Care director Tom Dailey said it had been an “extremely challenging time” for the operation.
Lochbank was slammed in an April inspection report which labelled several key areas of operation as “weak”.
The question of ‘how good is the staff team’ was given the lowest rating.
The report said: ” We were very concerned about aspects of the care being provided and we evaluated the service as delivering an unsatisfactory level of care for this key question.”
It led to an improvement notice being issued.
But in late June the home was warned its registration was going to be cancelled.
It eventually decided not to contest the decision before a sheriff, leading to its registration being cancelled on August 8.
What happens now?
Shona Campbell of Henderson Loggie has been appointed as liquidator to manage the winding down of the facility.
The group’s other care homes continue to operate as normal and are not affected by the closure of Lochbank House Ltd.
Those include Carmichael House in Dundee, Redwood, Broughty Ferry; Kendale Hall, Arbroath; Castle Lodge in Inverbervie and Storyville, Kirriemuir.
Mr Dailey said: “This has been an incredibly challenging time for everyone involved, especially our residents, their families and our staff.
“Our priority has been to ensure that all residents have been safely relocated, with many moving to our other care homes within the group.
“It is a measure of our staff that even in difficult personal circumstances those staff have visited our residents in their new homes to ensure that they are settled into their new surroundings.
“We are also focused on securing new roles within the group for as many of our dedicated staff as possible to minimise redundancies.”
He added: “Kennedy Care remains committed to delivering high quality care in our other homes, which continue to operate across Angus, Tayside, Fife and Aberdeenshire and who are not impacted by this closure.”
Lochbank is expected to be put up for sale in the near future.
Shona Campbell said: “Following the closure order and now that residents have been relocated, our immediate focus is on ensuring that the interests of the employees and other stakeholders are carefully considered during this process.
“We will also be overseeing the sale of the property with the aim of concluding the process as swiftly as possible.”
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