'Fear for 92-year-old mother's life if Salvation Army care home closes'

The son-in-law of a 92-year-old has said he is “fearful” for her life after it was announced two Salvation Army care homes in Edinburgh could close.

In a meeting on Monday, the charity revealed to residents, relatives, and staff future plans for the Davidson House and Eagle Lodge facilities.

They have been earmarked for “possible closure” under new proposals, along with three other residential care homes that the charity runs.

Ian McGlade was present at the “explosive” meeting on behalf of his mother-in-law, Mary Archibald, who moved into Davidson House in 2023 following a stroke, for £4,600 per month.

He has said he is fearful for the 92-year-old’s health if the plans progress, which he claims would result in a 28-day eviction notice for the residents.

“Senior management from the Salvation Army travelled to Edinburgh to meet with relatives of both Edinburgh care homes”, Mr McGlade told STV News.

“I attended the meeting and it was explosive.

Edinburgh & East

Salvation Army care homes face closure

Davidson House and Eagle Lodge in Edinburgh are set to shut under proposals from the charity.

“There were tears, there was anger and quite frankly, I do not believe that anybody would believe that an institution that I previously admired and donated to could treat their residents, staff and families so poorly.

“This is a Christian Charity.

“They are pretending to be on an information gathering exercise with a view to making a proposal to their board in September as to whether to close the homes.

“If they decide to close, 28-day eviction notices will be issued to all residents. 56 elderly, infirm residents will require to find a new home in four months.

“Every family member who attended the meeting yesterday believes the homes will close and that we are being lied to.

“The oldest resident in Davidson House is 106 and their family does not believe she would survive a move.

“Others are of a similar opinion.”

‘Evolving nature of care’

The Salvation Army, which runs 11 care homes across the country, said a “formal consultation” was due to begin on the future of the homes.

In a letter to residents seen by STV News, Salvation Army director of older people’s services Glenda Roberts said the “evolving complex nature” of elderly care has made delivering their residential care difficult.

“Our care homes are places of great love and care, but we have found that many of our residents require specialist clinical care that we are not set up to be able to provide,” Mrs Roberts said.

“Our research has found that The Salvation Army would need to invest several millions every year in specialist care and the modernisation of our buildings, to meet the changing needs of our residents.

“Without making these changes, we are worried that we would not be able to maintain a high standard of care. Other care home providers are better placed to meet complex clinical needs. Indeed, some have expressed an interest in continuing the work we have started.”

Mr McGlade said that his family and others have been given no other information and face a wait until September to hear the decision.

“If you wait until then and they announce closure, 56 people will all be fighting for a new care home along with anybody else also seeking such in the general population”, he added.

“The Salvation Army dealings with the families can be summed up with the following words; corporate, cold, unfeeling, unchristian, clinical and lacking any empathy.

“Basically, they are sacrificing the lives of our most vulnerable and cherished members of society to fund their ambitions elsewhere.”

Salvation Army doing ‘everything we can’

In a statement provided to STV News, Mrs Roberts said: “Our residential care homes are places of great love and care, but they do not have the specialised clinical expertise required by an aging population who are increasingly developing more complex conditions. Our buildings would also require significant modernisation.

“Taking action now will allow us to reach more people in the future but we know how difficult residents and our staff will find this news. Our immediate focus is on our current residents, their loved ones and of course our staff while we make this change.

“We are doing everything we can to support all those affected by this process and have set up a dedicated team to provide support. There will be a formal consultation period with our care home staff who have worked hard to ensure our residents are always surrounded by love, friendship and support.

“Following the consultation, if a home does close, our focus will be to settle every single resident into new accommodation with the support of our partners. Community chaplains will also continue to work with residents to ensure a consistency of pastoral support.”