Swanage care home: Carbon monoxide probe after three deaths

Three people found dead at a care home may have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, police have said.

Emergency services were called to Gainsborough Care Home in Ulwell Road in Swanage, Dorset, at 05:20 BST.

Seven people were taken to hospital and residents were evacuated from the building to a nearby church hall.

Dorset Police said the deaths were being treated as “unexplained” but potential carbon monoxide poisoning was the “primary line of inquiry”.

Speaking at a press conference, Ch Supt Heather Dixey said: “I would stress at this time there is nothing to indicate there is currently any risk to the wider public.

“The families of those who have died have been informed and the coroner has been notified.

“Swanage is a very close-knit community and I know these very sad deaths will have a significant impact on everyone here.”

The home, run by Agincare, has 48 residents, all elderly and some with dementia.

Residents from the home were seen being transferred, some in wheelchairs, to All Saints Church a short distance away.

Emergency beds were also delivered to the hall.

In a statement, Agincare said it has allocated “extra staffing resources” to provide support after an incident at the site, and that residents moved to a village hall and church are “safe and well”.

They said: “We appreciate that this is a stressful and worrying time for those involved, and have allocated extra staffing resources to provide support locally. We are contacting and updating residents’ families.

“We will continue to work with the lead local authority services to return residents into their home at the earliest opportunity, and will provide further updates in due course.”

Gas distribution company SGN said it was called to Gainsborough Care Home earlier on Wednesday.

It said engineers were sent to complete safety checks in the building.

“Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this tragic incident,” a statement said.

BBC Social Affairs Editor Alison Holt understands residents are being moved to other care homes in the area for one or possibly two nights.

This will allow for further investigations.

Places are being found for about 40 frail, older people, with a range of conditions including dementia and mobility issues.

Some residents are moving to other homes run by Agincare, the company that operates Gainsborough Care Home in Swanage, but other care home providers are also being asked to help.

Police and the fire service are believed to be investigating the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning or some other form of contamination.

The home’s boiler was serviced in July this year, a flue was replaced, and it passed checks, the BBC understands.

Dorset Council said it was “saddened” at the deaths.

“We are working with the home’s owners Agincare, emergency services and other partner agencies to support the residents of the care home who have been evacuated.

“Many of the residents are vulnerable people with significant care needs, and so we are working with them to understand how to meet their needs in the short term and identify their next steps,” it added.

BBC reporter on the scene Tristan Pascoe said: “At the moment it’s unclear what exactly happened here, but you can tell from the scale of the emergency services’ response that it’s clearly a serious incident.”

He said he was told by a relative who had visited a resident that “gas or carbon monoxide” was involved.

The local ward member on Dorset Council, Gary Suttle, suggested there was a suspicion the deaths “could be attributable to carbon monoxide, but it has not been proven”.

South West Ambulance NHS Trust said a hazardous area response team environment crew was sent to the scene along with 10 double-crewed ambulances.

Fire crews from across Dorset were sent to the scene. They have been assisted by a crew from Winchester in Hampshire.

Dorset South MP Lloyd Hatton said the deaths at Gainsborough Care Home would “certainly be hitting the whole community hard”.

He told BBC 5Live it was “really important to give the emergency services space to carry out their inquiries”.

The home received a Good rating when it was last inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2021.

Additional reporting by Emily Ford