A Kirkcaldy man says he could be barred from seeing his own mother after raising concerns about standards of care at a new complex.
Brian Greer has hit out over his alleged treatment at Ostlers House, where his 79-year-old mum Margaret has been a resident since November, and claims senior staff holding grudges have vilified him for highlighting various issues.
At the moment, Mr Greer has to be escorted in and out of the building and can only speak to senior members of staff, but he has now received a letter which suggests he could be barred from entering the care home altogether.
Fife Council insists Mr Greer has caused staff to “feel afraid and intimidated” on a number of occasions in recent months, which has prompted a final warning, although Mr Greer denies any wrongdoing.
Mr Greer initially raised a formal grievance after his mother’s nebuliser went missing, but the family has since highlighted a number of other perceived failings in Mrs Greer’s care – including issues around cleanliness and staff not following aspects of her care plan.
“There is a bigger picture here – this is fundamentally about my mum’s care, but there are other people in that care home,” he said.
“From what I saw on day one the place was an absolute shambles, it was pathetic and it’s gone steadily downhill since then.
“We’ve an absolute duty to make sure we get her the best level of care we can, but we have no trust and confidence left in them.
“They are going to great lengths to say things aren’t personal, but it’s absolutely personal.
“They’ve decided: ‘We’re not going to deal with the issues, we’re going to deal with the man.’”
The council-run complex replaced care facilities at Appin House and Raith Gates, where Mrs Greer had been previously, with a modern “village” set up which incorporates a 60-bed care home with five care units, 21 extra care housing units and five specific needs bungalows.
Mr Greer’s brother Kenny has also been involved and called on the council to focus on his mother’s care.
“Nobody wants to be in this situation – we just want to go and visit our mum,” he said.
“Brian basically got it spat at him: ‘If you are not happy, take your mother somewhere else.’
“The easy thing would be to take our mother out of there. But there are other people there.
“Do you think we’re asking for too much for her room to be kept clean, her bedding to be changed and her bathroom to be cleaned? These are just basic things.
“But because we’ve highlighted the standard of care, they now want to penalise us and penalise Brian in particular.”
Mr Greer described the allegations of intimidation against him as “nonsense”, adding: “I’ve told them in meetings that what they are hearing is exasperation because I’m sick of hitting my head off the same brick.
“All we’ve tried to be is reasonable but we’re not getting it back. We just want to meet with bosses to discuss this further.”
A report by the Care Inspectorate into Ostlers House gave the £5.4 million complex top marks across the board, labelling the quality of care and support, the environment, staffing and management and leadership as ‘very good’.
On Mr Greer’s concerns, Louise Bell, service manager, responded: “We are unable to comment on individual cases, but confirm that we take the care of all residents in our care homes very seriously and we have robust systems in place to investigate and respond to any complaints raised about the care and support of residents.”
