Short staffed Lincoln village care home to close

A care home near Lincoln will close due to difficulties recruiting care and management staff.

The Old Rectory in Saxilby, which was rated ‘Good’ this year by the Care Quality Commission, is in the process of rehoming the 18 residents before it closes its doors.

It is working with Lincolnshire County Council officials to do so.

Some 32 staff, and remaining residents, were informed of the decision this week. Some staff will move to the sister home Wispington House Care Home in the village.

Owners, who have run the facility since 2012, said continuous pressures on recruiting care staff and management positions made it impossible to stay open.

The home will remain open until a place can be found for all residents

Owner Brij Patel said during the past two years there has been “a rise in external influences which have made it increasingly difficult to sustain high standards – with the near impossibility of recruiting and retaining care and management staff compounded by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“We have worked tirelessly during the 18 past months to overcome various difficulties,” he said. “But regrettably, unsuccessfully, and now unfortunately this has left us in a position without any alternative but to close the home.

“This is not a decision that we took lightly, and we fully appreciate that this will come as a shock and disappointment to our staff, our residents and their loved ones. We are however, committed to manage the process as smoothly and fairly as possible.

“We can now focus our staff, resources and expertise on Wispington House and ensure that we deliver the quality of care the residents and their families deserve.”

The decision comes days after the Care Quality Commission released a report revealing that health and social care services are “under greater strain than ever”.

The report said care workers are suffering under a tidal wave of “anxiety, stress, exhaustion and burnout” post COVID-19.

Across England, numbers of unfilled jobs are rising month on month, the researchers found, from 6% in April to more than 10% in September.

The Government recently announced a new £162.5 million workforce retention and recruitment fund to bolster the dedicated care workforce – but critics say it may too little too late.