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The shocking eviction of bed-ridden Lisa Burford, 77, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a flood of criticism. Campaigners are now calling for more tenancy protections for vulnerable residents in the wake of Mrs Burford’s case – which saw her daughter sent an email at 6.28pm one evening demanding she was out the next day. Mrs Burford is confined to a wheelchair after suffering a double stroke and was unable to go out during the lockdown.

So she looked forward to the days when Brian, 73, her husband of more than 50 years, would walk past her room on a path outside.

Mr Burford, who has throat cancer and finds it difficult to speak, would pause on his stroll around the Tennyson Wharf Care Home in Lincoln and wave to his wife through her window.

But the managers of the home – owned by Barchester Healthcare Ltd – did not appear to like this and on April 30 a six-page letter was read out to Mrs Burford in her room threatening eviction.

A 28-day termination notice was sent to her daughter Michaela Burford-Bradshaw on May 7. And on June 4 an email was sent to Michaela at 6.28pm, demanding that her mother quit the premises the following day.

Michaela, who did not open the email until 9pm, said: “I was sick at heart when I read it and realised that my poor mum could be turfed out of her home in a few hours.

“I was absolutely appalled with the reasoning behind the eviction.

“For my old dad to be made to feel like a criminal for standing on a public footpath to wave hello to his beloved wife beggars belief.

“Complete strangers walk down that path and wave and say hello to my mum and other residents.

“Tennyson Wharf overlooks the marina, it’s a busy area.

“Everyone else could wave and chat but not my dad. At no point was anyone in any danger of anything, never mind coronavirus. “When he waved through the window, my mum was in her bed at least three metres away.

“When he waved from the public footpath, he was between six and seven metres away and there was a hedge in between them.”

Michaela, 54, lives in Louth, Lincs, with her husband Chris, 56, and their three children.

She spent more than 20 years in the NHS as a nurse, midwife and social worker before setting up her own safeguarding consultancy.

When the virus hit, she mothballed her company to head back into the NHS as a key worker. She said: “I have built a career in the care sector on the back of transparency and sensitivity and I know the vocabulary and the rights of patients and pensioners like my mum. I think that the managers at Barchester’s Tennyson Wharf were threatened by this.

“Their actions have caused so much stress and trauma for my parents. My mum was fearful of asking for pain relief or even a cup of tea because she didn’t want to be thought a nuisance.

“It was very, very stressful looking for a new care home for mum in the middle of a pandemic.We could not go inside them to look around or meet staff. We finally found a place and on June 10 she was evicted from Tennyson Wharf.

“We had appealed to the chief executive of Barchester Healthcare and he had granted a seven-day extension to June 12. To be honest it was a relief to move mum in the end to what we felt was a safer environment.

“We were very worried having to move her during Covid, which was never ideal.

“But mum was finding it very difficult in Tennyson Wharf following the reading of the letter to her. “Her speech had deteriorated due to stress.

“The new home allowed me to go in to mum’s room in personal protective equipment to unpack for her and help her settle in.

“We are also allowed to wave through the window. In fact, it’s encouraged. When her 14 days isolation for Covid is completed we can meet her, socially distancing with appropriate PPE outside the home in the car park. The ethos is completely different.”

Michaela turned to the charity Care Campaign for the Vulnerable for help. Its founder Jayne Connery contacted Barchester’s chief executive Dr Pete Calveley but the eviction was not stopped, only delayed for seven days.

Mrs Connery said: “This deserves our utter condemnation.”

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said: “Most people are unaware that if you go to live in a care home you have fewer legal rights than if you rent a flat.

“You don’t have a ‘tenancy’, even though it is your home, and this means it is legally possible for the management to evict you.

“It is time to give care home residents the right to a tenancy as part of the process of modernising and refinancing social care.”

Before her stroke Mrs Burford, who also has two sons, was active, energetic and fiercely independent.

Her family hope the animal lover and former gift shop manager will be able to go home after rehab.

Her husband, a former oil consultant, still lives in the couple’s house in Hatton, Lincs.

Their daughter has reported Barchester’s Tennyson Wharf to the Care Quality Commission. Kate Terroni, chief inspector of adult social care at the CQC, said: “If any issues arise between residents, families and the provider, they should be discussed in a constructive and understanding way.

“The right response is one that recognises the person’s right to safe, high quality care and the service’s desire and responsibility to do the best for that individual.”

Mike Padgham, chair of The Independent Care Group, said: “We have to manage the health of residents and staff and look after their mental health and that of their relatives. Maintaining contact is a vital part of that.

“We know most providers have been bending over backwards to ensure residents and relatives stay in touch As far as asking a resident to leave, it has to be the absolute last resort for a care provider.”

A spokeswoman for Barchester Healthcare said the company refused to comment on Mrs Burford’s case.

The company claimed visits at windows from loved ones distressed residents, and credited the policy with no coronavirus confirmations at Tennyson Wharf.

She added: “If, on explaining our protocols they are not followed by residents or relatives, for the safety of our residents and staff we have to take action.”

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