Feltham care home residents evacuated after Legionella found

Feltham Dene residential home, in Spring Road, Feltham, was shut yesterday after engineers from Hounslow Council found “unacceptable levels” of the microscopic organisms during a routine check.

All 34 residents have been moved to alternative accommodation.

Councillor Pam Fisher, lead member for community services at Hounslow Council, said: “The safety of residents and staff has to be our main priority, so we quickly decided to shut the home following expert technical advice.

“All the residents have been found alternative accommodation and we are working with their families to help them settle in as soon as possible.”

Nina Varcoe, manager at Feltham Dene care home, confirmed none of the residents had reported feeling ill, but the council asked staff to move them yesterday.

The bacteria can cause Legionnaires' disease, with symptoms including fever, chills, muscle aches, and coughing.

A spokesman for Hounslow Council said the authority, which owns the building, decided to shut it as a precaution.

He said: “We are just being sensible. They are not all moving to one place, we’ve gone through it case by case and tried to find somewhere appropriate for each person depending on their need.

“It has all been done with their families as well, making sure they know what is going on and are making the decisions. They are not young people there so it can be a bit disorientating for them, so we are making sure we can support them.”

He said the council’s engineers had been carrying out a routine check when they discovered the bacteria, but he was unable to say how often they inspected the water supply.

He added: “It is our engineers that inspect all our care homes, they go around them all. Given the age of a lot of the council buildings we’ve got to keep an eye on these things.”

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