Concerns over the future of Fife Council-run care homes are continuing after councillors debated the issue earlier this week.
While councillors agreed on Tuesday to reject a plan which would have seen all 10 of its care homes closed and residents transferred to places in the private and voluntary sector, question marks remain over seven of the homes after the council agreed to consult with a view to “replacing existing provision as and when suitable alternative provision becomes available.”
A relative of a council home resident, who did not wish to be named, contacted The Courier to say their loved one had previous experience of a private care home where the standard of care was “appalling” and urged the council against moving towards greater reliance on that sector.
“Staff did not appear to have the required knowledge or training to carry out their duties,” they said. “Frequent turnover in staff due to low wages and communication difficulties were evident between our relative and staff due to language barriers.
“There was a high ratio of staff who were of foreign origin which could be said to be because of the low wages these establishments are offering in exchange for mediocre carers.
“The council homes provide the highest standard of care staff, where staff are well trained and experienced.
“Our relative is deeply upset at the prospect of having to move to a private home after building relationships with staff in the home and receiving such good care.”
Another reader from Anstruther contacted The Courier to say they believe the council’s handling of the situation has been wrong.
“They should have said they were looking at all of the options available, not just three one of which was to close all of the homes,” he said. “They’ve backtracked on that but the council has effectively scared the living daylights out of people and I don’t like the way they’ve gone about it.”
Photo by Flickr user ell brown.