Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles has called for an investigation into the sudden closure of a Gold Coast aged care facility yesterday after claims the nursing home was stripped and patient records taken.

Key points: Contractors who run the facility alleged they had not been paid for a month

Contractors who run the facility alleged they had not been paid for a month Queensland's Health minister wants a federal inquiry into the matter

Queensland's Health minister wants a federal inquiry into the matter People Care allege that HelpStreet, the contractor hired to run the facility, was given assurances they would be paid in full

A contract dispute between the owners of Earle Haven Retirement Village at Nerang and the contractor running the facility left scores of vulnerable elderly residents in limbo when it was shut down about 2:00pm on Thursday.

HelpStreet Group, who operates the centre, said they had no choice after staff allegedly went unpaid due to a contract dispute with People Care, the overarching aged care provider.

Staff called triple-0, asking for authorities to attend Earle Haven and police officers were met by chaotic scenes when accommodation had to be found for more than 70 residents, many of whom have dementia.

More than 32 paramedics, nurses, doctors and Queensland Health staff, as well as the state Health Minister, attended the village to organise the transfers.

Over eight hours, the majority of residents were moved to about a dozen other nursing homes and three were taken to hospital. The urgent operation was completed just after 1:00am.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles with residents at the village on Thursday night. ( Facebook: Steven Miles MP )

It is understood People Care hired management company HelpStreet Group to run the facility in April 2018, after the Federal Government listed four sanctions for management and regulatory compliance concerns, and a failure to ensure residents received appropriate clinical care.

HelpStreet's Chris Bunker said over the past 15 months they had employed new staff and improved systems, however that had come at a cost.

Mr Bunker said People Care — of which Arthur Miller is the director — wanted to end their contract early, on August 9.

The Nerang nursing home closed about 2:00pm yesterday, with police called. ( ABC News: Steve Keen )

He alleged People Care had not paid them for a month, and previous months were late, and there were deductions that they could not account for.

"We asked in the very least to pay the staff, but at this time we still have not had that," he said.

"We were concerned for the residents and we contacted Queensland Health, to make sure the residents' care was at the forefront.

"We have not wanted the residents and the employees to suffer between two companies trying to sort out a commercial situation."

Mr Miles (second from the left) attended the facility on Thursday night. ( Facebook: Steven Miles MP )

However, a statement from lawyers acting for People Care said an email was sent to Mr Bunker on Thursday giving assurances that all payments would be made to HelpStreet "up to the date of departure from the premises".

In the statement, People Care alleged that HelpStreet engaged removalists to take "computers, client records, furniture and effects without any notice" — an allegation that HelpStreet has denied.

Earle Haven's independent living residents have been unaffected by the drama.

'Food, medication, patient records, mops taken'

The Queensland Government said the Federal Government needed to take ownership of the situation and has called for an inquiry into the crisis.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said patient records had been taken from the facility, and "storeroom after storeroom was cleared of anything that could be considered valuable".

"Our health staff had to reconstruct health histories and medication requirements for the residents, in order to stabilise them and provide them with their healthcare needs," he said.

Samantha Rickards' grandmother is being moved from Earle Haven to another care facility ( ABC News )

"There's no excuse for taking their patient records, no excuse for taking their pharmaceuticals, for taking their mop buckets, for taking the gloves that staff would use to help them toilet and shower.

"The behaviour here, whoever is responsible, is just disgusting.

"I want to known what warning signs there were to them before 2:00pm that could have allowed us to address the situation in a more orderly way.

"This last-minute call to triple-0 is certainly not how we should be dealing with a situation that has probably been emerging over weeks and months.

"Whatever their internal dispute, there is no excuse for just walking out on them.

Ms Cook said her husband John was moved from facility late on Thursday night. ( ABC News: Steven Keen )

"The Federal Government regulates these private aged care facilities and I think it's about time they stepped up, explained how this was allowed to happen, investigated it and put in place a process so nobody ever has to go through this again.

"A lot of these residents are old, frail and many are suffering from dementia, so it was confusing for them to be told in the middle of the night they needed to move from their home."

Authorities had to find new homes for score of residents. ( ABC News: Tom Forbes )

Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said he found it "outrageous" that a contract dispute "could escalate to the situation that it did".

"I will be looking to bring the full force possible of action onto those who put residents of Earle Haven in such a terrible position — it is simply unacceptable," he said.

A spokesperson for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission said welfare checks were being conducted on all residents that were moved to other services.

"The commission is also undertaking a review audit of the People Care's regulatory compliance," the spokesperson said.

'It was pandemonium'

Lorraine Cook said her husband was one of the residents taken to another care facility overnight.

"At 11 o'clock [at night] they took him to another nursing home going from a nice room on his own, now he's in a [room] with six to eight people … they were all anxious and upset," she said.

"You don't treat people like this. It's disgusting."

Samantha Rickards's grandmother was moved too.

"The staff have been amazing, they've all been very understanding, very caring, when I walked in they were feeding my grandmother," she said, but added she was pretty angry it had come to this.

"It's pretty calm but it's distressing ... [there is] a lot of them," she said.

Queensland Nurses Union secretary Beth Mole said the unprecedented evacuation was a failure of the aged care system.

"They are putting at risk residents and causing distress for families so we need urgent intervention," she said.

"Some staff were directed to leave yesterday, others heard about what had happened and had come in to volunteer, it was just pandemonium."