CALLS have been made for an investigation after residents in a care home were left without power for several days.

Fifteen vulnerable residents living at Holly Bank care home in Arnside were eventually rehoused after flooding resulted in a power outage and the loss of heating.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron said a GP had found some residents had hypothermia and most were on the borderline.

The care home is owned by Pearl Care.

“The most appalling thing was that it took four days for Pearl Care to take the action needed,” he said.

“Within 12 hours of my office having found out about this, working with social services, we made sure that residents were evacuated to a safe place.

“One of two things should have happened immediately when the power went. Either a temporary solution should have been found such a generator or those residents should have been moved into another home.

“The GP who visited found that four of the residents had hypothermia and that most of the residents were on the borderline of hyperthermia and were showing some symptoms. That is an absolutely disgraceful dereliction of care.

“The carers in the home displayed huge compassion but the management of Pearl Care have clearly failed here.”

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: “On Tuesday 15 February a decision was taken to relocate residents from a private care home, Holly Bank in Arnside to a nearby County Council Care Home.

“The decision was taken because the care home had suffered some flooding which has subsequently resulted in a power outage.

“While every effort was made to reinstate the power, this proved not possible and the residents of this care home were safely relocated to a nearby care home as their care and welfare has to come first and was our top priority. Every effort was made to minimise disruption on the residents and all family members have been advised.

“Families are being kept up to date and work is now underway to assess how long the repairs will take to restore power and undertake the repairs following the flooding.

“This work will need to be completed first, to ensure that residents can return safely to their care home.”

Mr Farron said the Care Quality Commission ‘must now do a full investigation into what happened here to make sure it never is allowed to happen again.’

A Care Quality Commission spokesperson said: “CQC are aware that Holly Bank Care Home, Arnside has moved people in its care to temporary accommodation nearby to keep them safe, following the home having no electricity.

“The home is receiving support from Cumbria County Council who have provided district nurses and access to registered accommodation.

“We can confirm that we have been contacted by MP Tim Farron regarding his concerns around this, and we have been in contact with his office to update him on the situation.  

“Our priority, at all times, is the health and wellbeing of people living at the home, and we will continue to liaise with the council and provider to ensure that residents are safe and well looked after.”

Pearl Care were approached for comment but were unable to response at the time of publication.