AN INVESTIGATION has been launched into how a nursing-home owner secured an "enhanced" £5 million contract to keep the facility open.
An independent consultant will carry out the inquiry amid claims that East Lothian Council was "biased" in its dealings with Jim McDonald, owner of Cockenzie House Nursing Home, which closed down this month after being slated by the Care Commission.
Peter Daniel, the former chief executive of East Renfrewshire Council, has been brought in to carry out the investigation.
The council's chief executive, Alan Blackie, has pledged to make the results of the probe public – but critics branded the situation "a mess" and demanded a full public inquiry.
Mr McDonald negotiated what the council describes as an "enhanced contract" after he threatened to close the home in 2004. The deal was struck by the Labour-run council, which took the unusual step of block-booking the facility for respite and emergency care, delayed hospital discharges and long-stays.
The deal ran out last November and was not renewed by the new SNP/Lib Dem administration, which decided it did not provide value for money.
At the time, Ruth Currie, the head of adult services, insisted the home should be paid "on the same terms as every other nursing home in Scotland".
Mr McDonald was also hit with an enforcement notice from the Care Commission, preventing the home taking on any new residents until major improvements were carried out.
A catalogue of failings was identified at the home by the commission, including lack of food options, inadequate staff training, poor hygiene control and broken furniture.
Mr McDonald decided in January to close the home, triggering an unsuccessful local campaign for a council buy-out. He received an undisclosed sum from the council to keep it open until the end of March.
Under the three-year contract, one-third of the beds were leased by the council at a "premium" rate, which saw Mr McDonald receive an extra £400,000 to provide places for delayed discharge and short-stay residents.
The home was rarely full, meaning Mr McDonald effectively was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for empty beds. The deal provided for annual fee increases above inflation and was worth about £5 million – at least £1 million more than Mr McDonald would have received under the old deal.
Ms Currie, leader of the council's adult social services, said:
"A number of comments have been made alleging bias towards and against Cockenzie House Nursing Home by East Lothian Council. We believe it is extremely important to discover exactly how matters have been pursued with a view to learning lessons from the experience, where possible."
Willie Innes, who was in charge of adult social services when the three-year contract was struck, defended the deal.
"There was a huge amount of pressure on us from the other political parties, from doctors, from families of residents, to prevent Cockenzie House closing. We got a deal together that kept it open," he said.
The full article contains 510 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
