A PRIVATE nursing home at the centre of an investigation into standards of care has been closed.
About 30 elderly residents were moved out of Greenfields Nursing and Residential Care Home, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, last week to allow the inquiry to continue.
It is believed eight staff have been suspended because concerns were raised about care and procedure standards.
Lesley Tickell, head of adult care at Durham County Council, confirmed an investigation has been ongoing since June and attempts had been made to improve standards.
She said: "Following extensive multi-agency discussions, a decision was taken, in full consultation with service users and their relatives, to review the care needs of residents and consider alternative placements for them.
"All of the residents have now been satisfactorily relocated to other care provision."
Although the council and owner Sebastian Kaippan consulted families about the temporary closure, staff were given only 48 hours' notice.
Mr Kaippan, managing director of Swansea-based Kaippans Care Holdings, defended the decision to keep staff in the dark.
He said: "One of the problems with giving staff lots of notice would be that it would unsettle them and residents even more.
"Some may have left and that would have been unsafe for residents.
"We are just trying to look after those old people, and felt this was the best way to sort everything out at once."
He said almost all the residents had been visited in their new accommodation and he was confident they had settled in well.
Mr Kaippan, who bought the home in June, hopes to reopen it in the New Year after a complete refurbishment.
The company, which owns six other homes in Wales and Devon, also plans to extend the 50-bed building to a 64-bed facility.
He said: "I think it will re-open by May 2008 at the latest.
"By then, all the rooms will have been brought up to a high standard - like a three-star hotel.
"Any staff under suspicion of any wrongdoing, allegations from before my time in charge, will not be part of the team.
"The remaining staff will have proper training to make sure procedures and care are up to standard."
Until the home re-opens, staff have been temporarily laid off and will not be paid.
A source, who did not want to be named, said: "It was a difficult time at the home before this, now good nursing staff and residents are being unsettled with very short notice.
"I think moving elderly people, a lot of whom have dementia, could lead to further deterioration of their condition."
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