A Barnet owned care home was run down, its remaining residents were moved out in a shambolic process and in a rush, without any consultation, and its dedicated staff – 93 care workers, long standing professionals who are Covid Heroes – are forced into redundancy in a short notice despite promises that their jobs are secure.

Staff and campaigners had warned that moving frail residents out of their familiar environment without suitable preparations risks their lives.

Tragically, we learned today that two of the residents who were moved out had sadly died already, within a few short weeks since they were moved out of Apthorp.

May they rest in peace.

93 care workers sacked during a national shortage of care workers

Read here Barnet Unison’s summary and their report of the affair

There was a protest of many staff members, Barnet Unison members and Barnet residents at Hendon Town Hall on the 14 September – the night in which the Adults and Safeguarding committee met for the first time after the decision to close Apthorp was taken in late August and DID NOT discuss it (!)

Following this protest, a meeting of concerned Barnet residents under the auspices of Barnet Alliance for Public Services took place on the 4^th of October, and decided to start a campaign in defence of the vulnerable residents of the care home and their committed care workers, both of who have been treated disgracefully by Your Choice Barnet and the Director of Adults Social Services.

Neither the staff nor the residents and their families were consulted prior to the decision to close down the care home and adjacent day centre!

There are many questions this terrible affair brings up, some of which were sent by members of the #SaveApthorp campaign in three different letters to Cllr Rajput, Chair of the Adults & Safeguarding committee, and to Theresa Villiers MP, in which constituency Apthorp is:

1. Was safeguarding of the residents prioritised?
2. Who owns and manages the building?
3. Are Council Tax Payers funding the repairs to a Catalyst building, and if so Why?
4. Who has been monitoring the contract and ensuring good governance?
5. With an ageing population, a resource like this is clearly needed, so is it to reopen and when? What are the long term plans?
6. Why the urgency, with no consultation, leading to the distress, (and possible early deaths) this has caused to Residents, Staff, Relatives and indeed members of the public?

7. Who is responsibility for this debacle and why wasn’t the public informed? Why the secrecy?

Barnet council through its Director of Adults Social Care Dawn Wakeling and Your Choice Barnet (part of The Barnet Group, a subsidiary of the council) claims that the building was unsafe; however this fact was known for quite a few years – veteran readers of this newsletter will remember the case of Legionella bacteria found in Apthorp water tanks – yet vulnerable residents were allowed to keep living there until now!

It seems that Catalyst housing association owns the building, but according to a bizarre contract signed by the council, Barnet council is responsible for its upkeep even if it’s handed back to Catalyst!

This is Barnet residents’ council tax payers’ money that is thrown away while a much needed public resource like an elderly care home is gotten rid of.

The shambolic process, without any consultation, deprived the council (through Your Choice Barnet) of potential creative solutions that may have prevented disrupting and risking the lives of the frail residents as well as saved the care workers’ jobs.

Hands Off Our Public Services was the first leaflet that activists of the #SaveApthorp campaign distributed door to door in the streets surrounding the care home.

The neighbours were astounded and shocked by the news of Apthorp Care Centre's closure. The care home building is owned by Catalyst housing association, which also owns the homes of many of the residents in the neighbouring estate, and they expressed concerns about the security of their own tenancies in light of the housing association's behaviour.

 

Join Our Weekend of Action was the 2nd leaflet, informing the public about the disgraceful closure of Apthorp Care Centre and inviting members of the public to our WEEKEND OF ACTION ON 30-31 OCTOBER.

• JOIN US on Saturday 30 October between 1-2pm outside Apthorp Care Centre, Nurserymans Road, London, N11 1EQ for a rally in solidarity with the care home residents and the sacked staff.

  JOIN US on Sunday 31st October between 2-3pm outside Sainsburys

  East Barnet Rd, EN4 to distribute another leaflet and inform the public about this outrage.

• Sign the petition

• Email us to learn how you can get involved.

Care workers at Sage care home in Golders Green staged a second wave of strike for dignity in care last week.

Read more here and here.

WE STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE SAGE WORKERS!