Anger as Dunstable care home announces 'out of the blue' that it will close within weeks

The daughter of a mother living with dementia in a Dunstable care home was shocked to be told the home is to close in less than a month.

Chiltern View, which caters for around 36 people, told Christine Cooper she would have to find a new home for her 88-year-old mum by the end of March.

Christine’s mother has been at the home since just before the first Covid lockdown.

"They just rang out of the blue on Friday saying the CQC was shutting them down and they were closing at the end of March,” she said. ”But no-one seems to know what is going on.”

Christine said she was concerned about being able to find a suitable home for her mum and the impact a move would have on her,

The home, run by Benslow Management Company, was found to be inadequate in an inspection in a report published in November 2022. The CQC carried out a targeted inspection of the care home again in December after urgently imposed conditions failed to materialise. One of these was for the home to submit fortnightly updates on plans to meet the required updates. The report, published in February, states: “We did not receive these updates after 24 October 2022.”

The CQC said: “People's medicines were not managed safely. Guidance for staff on how to support the safe administration of medicines was not always in place or where it was, it was not sufficiently detailed to ensure they understood what they needed to do.

“People were not protected from the risk of infection because staff did not always follow good practice in relation to wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or the handling of clinical waste. There was a malodour on the ground floor of the building.

“Systems in place to monitor the quality of the service were not used effectively to identify shortfalls in quality. Reportable incidents had not always been identified affecting external bodies' ability to monitor the safety and quality of the service.

"The overall rating for this service is 'Inadequate' and the service is therefore in 'special measures'.”

Julie Ogley, Director of Social Care, Health and Housing at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “It is with regret, I have been informed that Chiltern View Care Home in Dunstable, run by Benslow Care Homes, will be closing.

“Central Bedfordshire Council has been working with the senior leadership team at Chiltern View to support improvements since the care setting received an ‘inadequate’ Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating in September 2022. The CQC revisited the service in December 2022 and subsequently advised late last week that they intend to remove the home’s registration. Benslow Care Homes have taken the decision to close Chiltern View and not challenge CQC’s report.

“Our attention is now focused on the residents who will need to find a new home which can meet their specific care needs and colleagues will be supporting residents and their families with this. I know this will be an extremely unsettling time for residents, and I am committed to making sure everyone living at Chiltern View will be helped to move to their new home with as little disruption and upset as possible.”

Benslow Care Homes has been approached for comment.