THE Oxfordshire nursing home at the centre of a investigation following the death of eight residents in a two week period was last night told it was not responsible for their deaths.

The individuals all died of natural causes, an inquiry has found.

Oxfordshire County Council said there was no direct link between the heating breakdown at the Crown Nursing Home in Harwell and the deaths of the pensioners, who all died between January 9 and 25.

The home’s central heating broke down on Boxing Day and was not fixed until January 5.

Owners Southern Cross Healthcare said the residents, who included 107-year-old Elizabeth ‘Queenie’ Carpenter, died from “individual chest-related illnesses”.

An inquiry involving the county council, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, Thames Valley Health Protection Unit, Thames Valley Police, Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust and Southern Cross Health Care, has now finished.

A county council spokesman said no action would be taken against the home.

He added: “As a result of the detailed look there was no evidence to suggest a direct link between the breakdown of the central heating at the nursing home and the sad deaths of people living there, who all died of natural causes.

“Alternative heating was provided by the privately-run home and the quality of care provided by staff during this period was found to be of a good standard.”

He said a further review of the case would be undertaken by the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board so that any further learning from the case can be shared with other care providers in Oxfordshire.

The CSCI, the Government watchdog that oversees adult social care in England, told the home to improve earlier this month after staff failed to inform them of the deaths and heating problem.

It issued the 16-bed home with a requirement notice, which means it must improve within 48 hours or within a set timescale.

It is the first of four steps of action the CSCI can take when care providers breach regulations.

A commission spokesman said: “As part of the commission’s enforcement powers, we issued the Crown Nursing Home with requirement notices for not informing the commission about several deaths in the home and the failure to inform us of the heating system not working.”

A spokesman for the Crown Nursing Home said: “Management at the home posted out full documentation to CSCI, which over the festive period delivery was somewhat slower.

“A new representative from CSCI also visited the home during this period and documentation was also handed over in person.

“However, we have since learned that this was not the correct procedure.

“We are aware that there is no issue concerning the level of care provided during this period.”

A spokesman for Southern Cross Healthcare said the firm had not been notified of the news and would not be commenting until it had received confirmation.

didcot@oxfordmail.co.uk