AN island's only care home will close in December after a Sheriff ordered its licence to be suspended over safety fears.
It comes after lawyers for the Care Inspectorate appeared at Greenock Sheriff Court to seek a court order to shut down privately-run Craigard care home, near Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
The Sheriff has now issued an order suspending the care home's registration from December 9, after which it will be unable to operate.
It means the facility's 12 elderly residents will have to be relocated to the mainland, potentially separating them from friends and family on Bute.
A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate said: “The health, safety and well-being of vulnerable people is always our first concern. Our most recent inspection identified significant weaknesses in the way people are cared for at this care home which, despite support, have not improved. Our assessment is that the home is failing to provide even a satisfactory or safe level of care.
“That is why we sought the urgent closure of Craigard care home, at Greenock Sheriff Court on Monday. It is extremely rare for us to take action of this nature and we do so only when we must protect people from harm."
It is only the second time in the watchdog's history that it has taken legal action to close a home.
Craigard's owner, Ann Williams, disputes inspectors' findings and insisted that they were not given enough time to turn the home around.
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