AN inquiry has been launched after half of the residents of an Oxfordshire care home died in a two-week period.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection is investigating after eight elderly people died of “chest-related illnesses” at the Crown Nursing Home in High Street, Harwell.

The deaths, which occurred between January 9 and January 25, included 107-year-old Elizabeth “Queenie” Carpenter.

The commission, which was set up by the Government to monitor adult social care, confirmed that its inspectors had visited the home.

A spokesman said: “Our inspectors are continuing discussions with the management at the home.

“We are unable to go into more details at present, but we are monitoring the standards of care at the home, while considering what further action we may need to take."

Home manager May Sancio said two men and six women had died. They were aged between 85 and 107.

She said doctors diagnosed pneumonia in all the residents who had died.

Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust said it was not an issue they were able to comment on.

However, Southern Cross Healthcare — which owns the home — said pneumonia was only registered as the cause of death in six cases and instead pointed to “chest-related illnesses”.

Mrs Sancio said: “Some of the residents have been here for ages. The staff are very upset as they have been part of our family.

“It is just unfortunate this has affected most of our residents. It started off with just a cold and they have been treated with anti-biotics. Some of them recovered and others didn’t.

“If someone had symptoms we made sure they were contained in a room to make sure they couldn’t pass the virus to other people.”

A Southern Cross Healthcare spokesman added: “The staff and other residents of the home are saddened by these deaths at the start of the year. The deaths were as a result of individual chest-related illnesses.

“All regulatory authorities are aware of the deaths and there is no concern over the cause of each death.

“The average age of each resident was 93 and all had been happily living in the home for some years.

“Management at the home has evaluated their infection control procedures, which were of the highest standard, and are reviewing newly-issued NHS guidelines.”

Mrs Carpenter’s grandson-in-law, Kevin Calkin, 46, of Verlam Grove, Didcot, said: “It’s unfortunate this antibiotic-resistant strain just took over. Pneumonia is very common in older people. The Crown Nursing Home were fantastic to Grandma. They provided the same level of care to all their patients. It was probably an act of God. You can’t insure against nasty viruses.”

An Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust spokesmann said: “The PCT is not aware of an evidenced pneumonia outbreak within Oxfordshire. We cannot speculate as to the cause of the deaths at the Crown Nursing Home, which is a private provider of care services.”

A spokesman for social services said: “The county council is not aware of any widespread problem with pneumonia in Oxfordshire.”