Parkfields care home, Somerset, closed down by Commission for Social Care Inspection

Inspectors today closed down a Somerset care home under investigation by police over suspicions a 97-year-old woman was poisoned.

Residents will be moved to new accommodation after the Commission for Social Care Inspection made a successful application to magistrates for an emergency order to close Parkfields care home, in Butleigh near Glastonbury.

CSCI had already issued a notice of proposal to cancel the registration of the home’s owner but remained concerned that the welfare of residents was not being properly safeguarded and staff were not being supported.

The commission said it had received “a total lack of co-operation and commitment” from the home’s owners towards improving standards of care at the home since the CSCI inspection on 24 January found “serious shortcomings”.

CSCI is carrying out a joint investigation with police, who arrested and later released on bail a 45-year-old woman and a 48-year-old man. It has been reported that police are investigating up to seven deaths at the home.