Beds mother speaks out as St Elizabeth's in Herts shuts in two weeks
The care home was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission
Last updated 5th Dec 2022
The mother of a disabled woman has spoken out about the decision to close the care home she lives in.
Angie Lay's daughter Katie is 41-years-old and has Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy which has left Katie unable to speak, learning disabled, and at risk of seizures, among other things.
Since 2000 Katie has lived at St Elizabeth's Adult Care Home in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire where she receives 24-hour care.
But after the home received an inadequate rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in August, their registration was cancelled, leaving people like Katie without a place to live.
When is the home closing?
The home is now due to close on November 30th.
According to Angie, as of just over a week ago, 28 residents still didn't have a new home lined up: "It's really really close to the wire and what some parents are concerned about is, what's going to happen when St Elizabeth's closes and they haven't found a placement.
"It's a huge worry and there is emergency respite care but goodness knows where that will be. They could be miles and miles away from their loved one."
Talking about the whole experience, Angie has said families could and should have been given more time to prepare: "Some parents are just so stressed and anxious and so worried about where their loved one is going to go and we went through exactly the same thing."
Over 130 miles away from her family
Fortunately, the family have been able to find Katie a new place to live in Stoke-on-Trent but it's over 130 miles away from her parent's home in Bedfordshire.
Angie and her husband David have said they'll now need to undertake over a five-hour round trip to visit their daughter, compared to the hour and a half journey they're used to.
They've also said it will cost them more money to visit their daughter: "All I've been doing is putting fuel in the tank and we know how expensive that is and yes, it will be the cost of a hotel overnight for both of us each time.
"We just can't drive for five or six hours, it's too much and we want to be fresh when we've got our daughter in the car, we want to be safe."
What has the care home said?
In a statement posted on their website, St Elizabeth's said: "In the last two years, St Elizabeth’s Adult Care Home has faced two unprecedented challenges – the Covid-19 pandemic, and a chronic national shortage of trained staff.
"It is heartbreaking to have to take this step, but any compromise to the safety of residents or reduction in the quality of our care is simply not in keeping with our ethos, and is a long way from the type of service we have made our name in providing.
"We will, however, continue to operate as a residential school and college, supporting children and young people with epilepsy and other complex conditions, where there is an increasing need for our specialist care."
"Care staff are underpaid and underappreciated"
Angie concludes: "It's an awful situation and it just breaks my heart to think that some of those residents have been there for 30, 40 years, and their world is just turned upside down, like our daughters is going to be.
"All because of lack of trained care staff which is not just St Elizabeth's, it's all over the country. The care system at the moment is at crisis point.
"Care staff are underpaid and underappreciated, they do an incredibly hard job, it's not easy looking after somebody like my daughter with all her needs.
"If they had a fair wage, a living wage, I think they could attract more people. Obviously, it's too late for St Elizabeth's but in other care homes they could attract more people."