EX RBKC OFFICER ON THAMESBROOK

Every so often" Worked at RBKC" writes a commentary on topics the Hornet's Nest has written about.

Only the likes of Matthew Palmer could ever say they were not balanced and fair. 
Sometimes WARBKC will round on the Dame if he/she think she is being unfair so this latest comment deserves to be taken as being pretty balanced......


It's a pity that Thamesbrook has been closed, it used to offer excellent care and was a very well managed home with an excellent staff team.

Not long after she was appointed to RBKC I had the misfortune to meet Stella Baillie. In conversation I said something about the portfolio of services for older people she had inherited and how good they were. She looked at me in horror and said she would be closing them all as soon as possible. I was shocked and asked why you would want to close something that was good, had an excellent reputation and performed well and her response was that councils didn't provide services, they were too much trouble for someone like her and she would be getting rid of them. 

Over some years I watched her do just that, picking them off one at a time, day centres, homes, supported housing, home care and then there was only Thamesbrook which was the jewel in the crown left. 

She let that fall in to a state of decay, failed to appoint an appropriate manager when a long standing one left and standards fell. She then brought back the manager who had closed Edenham for her with a remit to close Thamesbrook, that failed and the manager left RBKC saying there were no grounds to close an excellent home.

Finally the legionella lie as it should be known was invented. Legionella in drinking water?? Did they not do their research properly? It only occurs in stored water and any drinking supply is mains fed. Even it it is in stored water it is only a hazard in vapour in for example a shower as any hotel manager will tell you. If the shower is used regularly and the system cleaned it is not a hazard at all. 

If there was legionella in the drinking water in Dovehouse Street it was a worldwide first and surely Dovehouse Street residents and the Royal Brompton would have been affected too? Surely this new threat to well being could not have been only confined to Thamesbrook which conveniently Stella Baillie had a long term ambition to close? In any event, as before legionella does not occur in mains water supplies which are too cold for it to survive in so the 'legionella lie' is exactly what it was. 

At least one head should roll but surely too should those of the councillors stupid enough to be taken in by this, have they forgotten their responsibility to question and scrutinise? Or did they not have the intelligence to do that?

It's very sad that a public body can lie so blatently and no doubt they will continue to get away with it. I'm more glad every day that I'm not there any more.