9:35am Wednesday 18th April 2012
By Dominic Sutton
RELATIVES of people living in a care home which is up for sale say they are being made ill by the uncertainty surrounding its future.
The Chestnuts Care Home in Cambridge Park in Wanstead, was put up for sale three weeks ago after owner Avril Stein announced she could no longer afford to run it.
She set an eight week deadline for the sale, but with just five weeks remaining, relatives say they still have no idea whether the home will even be open by the end of next month.
Carol Walsh, 44, whose 84-year-old grandmother lives in the home, said: “It’s an awful situation and I think all the stress is getting to everybody.
“I’m unwell at the moment and I think it’s because of this.”
Mrs Walsh says health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had informed her that Avril Stein met with them earlier this week.
She added: “The CQC told me that she understands the need for urgency and that she has one preferred buyer.”
But Debbie Lindon-Taylor of CLT Health Consulting, who were brought into the home after the CQC raised concerns over the treatment of residents, said that a deal was yet to be done.
And she says that seven local authorities, including Redbridge and Waltham Forest, are currently working to find alternative homes for residents in case the home closes.
She added: “There are 37 people in the home but potentially by the time the sale goes through they might all have moved.”
“Family members are checking and viewing other homes, and we have two residents moving next week."
Tayvanie Nagendran, 27, the operations director of Cambridge Nursing Home, next door to Chestnuts, wants to buy the home.
She claims she has been told by representatives of Ms Stein that she is one of two buyers in with a chance of purchasing Chestnuts.
And she added: “They told us there is another care provider interested, so we are now in a bidding war with them.”
The Guardian has been unable to contact Ms Stein or her solicitor.
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