Families with loved ones at a Skye care home due to close at the end of the month are refusing to move.
Budhmor Care Home is had been due to be replaced, but operators CrossReach announced earlier this year that due to financial and recruitment challenges the “extremely difficult decision” had been made to close it.
But families have praised the top quality care provided by the staff, and pointed to the shortages of care home beds on the island.
They have previously raised £135,000 towards upgrading the home, and are confident they could raise plenty more to get the property up-to-standard.
They were told in March that the home would close at the end of June, but in a last-minute reprieve the date was extended to the end of July.
Yet with no home visits organised and no dates to prepare loved ones to move to nearby Home Farm, the only other facility in Portree, families are refusing to budge.
The families say their individual contracts with owner CrossReach have not been officially terminated in writing.
CrossReach and NHS Highland say the future of the home is “not viable” and insisted there was “genuinely no other option” but to close it.
Do the ‘moral and Christian thing’
Families representing relatives in the home are asking CrossReach, which is owned by the Church of Scotland, to do the “moral and Christian thing” and keep the care home open until the last existing resident has died.
Mairi MacDonald, whose dad – 93-year-old Kenny Martin lives at Budhmor, said: “We will chain ourselves to the beds if we have to, we are not moving.”
She has painful memories of her mother’s time at Home Farm, and vowed she would never go back after her death.
“My mum was in Home Farm, and it is a nursing home,” she said. “Budhmor is a care home – there is a difference. I have fears about my dad moving to Home Farm as it is not the same as Budhmor, for one we had no Covid deaths.
“By agreeing to this move we are signing a death warrant.”
At Home Farm, 11 people died from Covid, and the home was taken into special measures from owners HC-One and eventually bought by NHS Highland.
Jessie MacDonald, Mairi’s sister, said: “Dad has been in Budhmor for six-and-a-half years and his care is second to none. They are a committed staff, some of them have been there for more than 40 years, altogether 180 years of service.
“During lockdown they lived at the home, or isolated away from people to keep residents safe.”
Kathie Ford, whose mum Olive Rawcliffe, 94, lives in Budhmor, said: “My mum has been in the home for five-and-a-half years. We live in Cornwall – and because it was important to mum, she has remained in the home and we travel the 1,500 mile trip to see her every few weeks.”
‘To move mum is wrong’
Describing her mum as being “near to the end of her life,” she said: “If she is moved I think that could be it for her.
“She is bed-bound. There is no way I will move her to Cornwall. When we chose Budhmor for mum, we chose it because it offered the best care, in a place where she lived and all her friends are.
“To move her to Home Farm is simply wrong – especially when she is so near to the end of her life.”
Mandy Bowdler’s mum Shirley Rowe is 88, and has been in the home for three-and-a-half years.
She said: “My mum never wanted to be in a care home. But she went in for respite and never came back home. She didn’t want to. She had found a place that she belonged.
“For me, that was like ‘wow, she is happy and cared for and wants to be here.’
“Now that this has happened, we are all horrified. But my mum is now near the end of her life.”
Sandra MacLeod, from Portree, says her dad Allan MacDonald, 85, has been in the home for three-and-a-half years, and still has capacity.
She hit at the way the closure has been handled, claiming there had been some “deceit” along the way.
‘This is my dad’s home’
“Budhmor is the best place for care on the island. They have tried to bring in reports to say it is not fit for purpose, but no one died at Budhmor during Covid, staff care for the residents as though they were their own family. It is homely, it is not clinical. Just the way you would want to be treated yourself. This is my dad’s home.
“These residents should not be thrown out on the street – they should be allowed to live in their home until they pass away, peaceful in their own beds.
“The Church of Scotland is putting money before these people. It is totally wrong.”
Families contacted the Press and Journal after a Care Inspectorate report was published last week that suggested the welfare of residents were being put at risk, as the home was “cluttered and dirty”.
The home’s part-time maintenance man Neil Annand was among those upset by the findings.
Families say the “clutter” referred to in the report was stacks of chairs in an unused room, and stress the staff take great pride in looking after the facilities for the remaining residents.
Former construction worker Mr Annand also said that despite a report saying the 51-year-old building would cost millions to upgrade, he believes it is still fit for purpose. He claims it can be used until a new care home can be built.
Move items piece by piece
Mr Annand said: “One survey report said it would not last another winter, but it did.
“The closure of this home is all about filling Home Farm with residents.
“If people have to move, the best solution would be to section off an area in Home Farm and call it Budhmor and take all the staff up there.
“One of our staff members is keen to move every single room piece by piece so that no one is disrupted.
“We want our residents to live for as long as they should live – and not succumb to an early death because of this upheaval. Everyone is distressed.”
NHS Highland said it had been working with families since the closure of Budhmor was indicated by CrossReach.
A spokesman said: “In order to ensure we understood the options for Budhmor surveys were carried out to explore any possibility for a future for the home.
“Unfortunately, the building is beyond reasonable repair and for anyone to take over the building there would need to be major renovations which would require residents and staff to leave the building.
“Given the condition of the building which is owned by Crossreach it is not viable for a new provider, or either NHS Highland or Highland Council – to seek to continue care delivery from Budhmor.
“Our priority now is to work closely with families and residents to ensure the best outcome for residents as we work with the community to ensure the right level of care provision for Skye in the future.”
‘Difficult decision’ to close
A spokesman for CrossReach, the operating name of the Social Care Council of the Church of Scotland, said: “CrossReach recognises the hurt and anxiety being experienced by the residents of Budhmor Care Home their relatives and friends at this time.
“The decision to close a care home is never an easy one and only taken when we genuinely believe there is no other option available to us.
“The future of Budhmor has been discussed with NHS Highland for a number of years.
“We have outlined a number of risk factors including financial sustainability, challenges in recruitment and the suitability of the building to provide good quality care now and into the future.
“However, no solution could be put forward before these risk factors became so critical that the CrossReach board had to take the difficult decision to close.
“We are sorry for the distress caused.
“We wrote to the named relatives of the residents of Budhmor in April, having previously met with them or had individual telephone conversations at the end of March, advising of the likely termination date at that point.
“We have since followed up in writing to confirm that will be July 31.
“This followed a further period of discussion to allow any alternative options put forward to be further explored.
‘Efforts being made for smooth transition’
“We believe that the local social work department have been in touch with named relatives, who have responsibility for arranging the care of a resident of Budhmor, to try to arrange meetings with them.
“We understand that in most cases these meetings have gone ahead and some of the residents have already successfully moved from Budhmor to a new home.
“If there is anyone who does not have an arrangement in place to meet with social work department, they should let us know and we will support them to make the necessary arrangements.
“All efforts are being put into supporting a smooth transition for the residents to allow the home to close on July 31 as planned.
“We are concerned to hear there could be disruption during some of the planned moves, which can only serve to add further upset to an already distressing situation.
“We would urge anyone planning such action to get in touch with us so we can find a more constructive way forward.”
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