Two homes face the axe in Scotland
Relatives say they fear for the lives and wellbeing of elderly family members after it emerged the Salvation Army is considering closing two vital care homes.
Edinburgh care homes Davidson House and Eagle Lodge have been earmarked for “possible closure” under new proposals, along with three other residential care homes that the charity runs.
Senior management from the Salvation Army met with relatives of both Edinburgh care homes on Monday (30 June) and told that a said a “formal consultation” was due to begin on the future of the homes.
However Ian McGlade whose mother-in-law, Mary Archibald, who moved into Davidson House in 2023 following a stroke, said moving her out the facility would seriously impact her health.
Despite Mary Archibald paying £4,600 per month, she would be given just 28 days notice to leave said McGlade, who attended the meeting with senior management.
He said: “There were tears, there was anger and quite frankly, I do not believe that anybody would believe that an institution that I previously admired and donated to could treat their residents, staff and families so poorly.
“This is a Christian charity. They are pretending to be on an information gathering exercise with a view to making a proposal to their board in September as to whether to close the homes.
“If they decide to close, 28-day eviction notices will be issued to all residents. 56 elderly, infirm residents will require to find a new home in four months.
“Every family member who attended the meeting yesterday believes the homes will close and that we are being lied to.
“The oldest resident in Davidson House is 106 and their family does not believe she would survive a move.
“Others are of a similar opinion.”
Salvation Army director of older people’s services Glenda Roberts said the charity was struggling to deliver increasingly complex care packages to residents.
“Our care homes are places of great love and care, but we have found that many of our residents require specialist clinical care that we are not set up to be able to provide,” Roberts said.
“Our research has found that The Salvation Army would need to invest several millions every year in specialist care and the modernisation of our buildings, to meet the changing needs of our residents.
“Without making these changes, we are worried that we would not be able to maintain a high standard of care. Other care home providers are better placed to meet complex clinical needs. Indeed, some have expressed an interest in continuing the work we have started.”
She added: “The biggest challenge is an aging society. Residents are joining us later in life which means they often have more complex needs. It would take many millions to change our staffing, governance and expertise to be able to offer the specialised nursing required and to adapt our buildings.
“Other care home providers are better placed to meet the complex and changing clinical needs of older people. Indeed, some have expressed an interest in continuing the work we have started with our residential older people care homes.
“Every week, around 3500 older people attend Salvation Army community activities (aross the UK) ranging from lunch clubs to specialist dementia services and our plan is to substantially increase that vital support.
“By building on our community foundation, we can reach deeper into communities and support more vulnerable older people.”
However McGlade said that if families waited for an announcement on closure, 56 people will all be fighting for a new care home which would be impossible at such short notice.
“The Salvation Army dealings with the families can be summed up with the following words; corporate, cold, unfeeling, unchristian, clinical and lacking any empathy,” he said.
“Basically, they are sacrificing the lives of our most vulnerable and cherished members of society to fund their ambitions elsewhere.”
