A new lease of life for the building
A care home which was deemed ‘unsafe’ is set to open again as a guest house.
Grafton House Care Home in Scunthorpe closed last May after being branded as ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission.
It was placed in special measures and closed voluntarily shortly afterwards.
The Ashby Road building is now likely to be granted permission to reopen as a hotel, under a new owner, by North Lincolnshire Council next week.
Nearby residents have been assured it won’t become a HMO (house of multiple occupancy) after several objected to the proposals out of concern.
The number of bedrooms will be reduced from 25 to 15.
There were also claims the applicant had already started work on the property before getting permission, but the council has confirmed these were only fire safety improvements.
One comment of support said they welcomed a guest house if it was run properly.
The plans are set for approval at next Wednesday’s planning committee meeting,
Grafton House was graded ‘inadequate’ in three out of five categories the CQC looks at – safeness, effectiveness, and leadership – and ‘requires improvement’ in two more.
In its report, the CQC warned residents “were not protected from abuse”.
Braemar Care Centre blamed the findings on short-staffing due to the COVID pandemic.
A spokesperson said previously: ”We took the decision to voluntarily close Grafton house.
“After the COVID outbreak we could not sustain staffing levels as it left the service so short-staffed.
“The greatest impact was COVID-19 as it meant we had little to no staff who could work.
“After the outbreak, we simply could not recover.
“Like many other homes, this led to the closure of the service. However this is not unusual and I am sure many services faced similar challenges during the pandemic.”
The property was placed up for auction in August with a guide price of £385,000.
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