Sir, Oh, how very sad the wonderful St Katharine’s House, once a shining example of how a care home should be run (for the residents), hits the news again.

When will CQC and the powers-that-be realise that it will never be “fit for purpose” until the present owners stop running it for profit and try running it for the residents instead?

Yes, I know care homes don’t run themselves, and that a certain amount of paperwork is necessary, that’s what I was there for along with others, to do the mundane bits, leaving nurses and carers to do their jobs.

In the days when ‘St Kath’s’ was overseen by the convent, with the steady hand of a naval commander at the helm and a fully-trained capable care manager leading the wonderful team in the nursing wing, it was, as one resident put it, “a home that cared”.

Unfortunately, good, experienced staff cost money and that eats into profit, doesn’t it?

CQC, stop trying to patch it up, that will not work; you only prolong the agony of the good staff who are left and the residents.

Make the owners see that it is important to staff the place properly, so that everyone has the time to do their jobs as they should be done.

It is not the fault of the beleaguered staff, they do try. I still meet some of them and we remember the days when no one was left without one-to-one contact.

There will be many out there who wish that St Kath’s could go back in time and be again a home that cares. . . maybe miracles do still happen, after all it is nearly Christmas.

Dee Dudleston, The Willows, Grove