By Fiona Mcwhirter And Adam Shergold
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Police have launched an investigation after five elderly residents died in 24 hours at a care home.
The funerals of three of them were halted after officers ordered that all of the bodies should be taken from undertakers to the police mortuary for a post-mortem examination.
Admissions of new residents to the home at Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, have been suspended as the investigation continues.
Probe: Police are investigating the five deaths at Orchar Nursing Home
The deaths were treated as routine until a local GP noticed apparent similarities in the symptoms and the number of fatalities at a single establishment over a short period of time.
He considered there as a possible cause for concern and reported his findings to NHS Tayside's public health department.
Concern: Joyce Gamble, 88, is one of the five residents to have died this week at Orchar Nursing Home
A team was sent to the Orchar Nursing Home to carry out tests. An immediate police investigation was ordered and officers went to the funeral parlours.
The funeral of one of the women was to have been held last Thursday and two more were planned for Friday. The other two were due over the next few days.
It is understood their symptoms included congestion and signs of infection. Last night, one possibility being considered for the high number of deaths in such a short period was a 'superbug' or viral infection.
A source close to the investigation said it could turn out to be a 'public health issue' as there appeared to be no 'obvious foul play'.
A spokesman for Tayside Police said: 'We are making enquiries into the deaths of five elderly people at a nursing home.
'The force was advised on Tuesday, March 27, that five residents – a man aged 74 and four women aged 81, 88, 90 and 91 – had died during Sunday, March 25 and Monday, March 26.
'While there are no apparent suspicious circumstances surrounding any of the deaths, Tayside Police are investigating the full set of circumstances
surrounding them and will report to the Procurator Fiscal.'
The nursing home, on Broughty Ferry's seafront, is owned by London-based Orchar Care Ltd and can accommodate 40 residents in 38 bedrooms.
Its website boasts that its residents' 'quality of life is greatly enhanced by the comfortable, warm and safe environment' – and that they offer an 'appetising, tasty and nutritious menu which provides residents with a healthy and varied diet'.
The residents who died are Joyce Gamble, Gordon Ramsay, Ella Arthur, Helen Lowden and Alexandrina Braid, all from the local area.
Halted: Funerals of three of the OAPs who died at Orchar Nursing Home have been delayed while Tayside Police carry out their enquiries
Yesterday, one relative of spinster Miss Gamble paid tribute to the 88-year-old from Broughty Ferry, saying: 'It was heartbreaking watching her deteriorate.
She was a wonderful, caring woman and she loved her family. She went downhill very quickly and we thought it must be a virus.
'I wasn't surprised when I got the call to say she'd died. She had become very weak.'
He added that he would be surprised if it was a 'superbug' that had caused the deaths because he had visited Miss Gamble regularly and her room and the home were always 'immaculate'.
Last night, Gordon Ramsay's son, Graham, said: 'My father was very happy in that home. I would never fault the home for anything.'
The last report by the Care Inspectorate, published on September 9 last year, found the home had maintained a 'professional yet friendly and warm atmosphere while undergoing substantial refurbishment', which had been 'managed well'.
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