Mum, 84, faces being ‘cast out’ of care home
FAMILY BLAST ‘DIABOLICAL’ CLOSURE PLANS
THE family of a Derbyshire care home resident fear she is effectively being “cast out onto the street” if “diabolical” council plans to close the facility are approved.
Mark Essex fears his mother-inlaw Sheila Patrick, 84, would be significantly affected if Derbyshire County Council closes Castle Court Care Home in Arthur Street, Castle Gresley.
Castle Court is among up to 11 care homes which could be closed by the cash-strapped council in order to save money amid a £40 million funding gap, with the plan currently out for public consultation.
Sheila has lived at Castle Court for 16 months after making the tough decision to give up her independence and gain the support of care home staff, her son-in-law Mark told the Derby Telegraph.
Mark, 62, who previously worked in railway operations and who has lived in Swadlincote all his life, said it had been a tough process convincing his mother-in-law to enter a care home but that she quickly grew to love Castle Court and all it provides. He said Sheila has dementia and the potential closure of the home is now all she talks about.
Mark told us: “She is now repeatedly asking ‘where am I going to go?,’ and she’ll ask you 20 or 30 times in a row. She is probably asking it now. She is nearly 85 and is coming to the latter part of her life and it is a big worry.
“The impact is not just on my mother-in-law but also my wife and her brother. It is a great location and the support she gets there from staff is second to none, we can’t praise the staff enough.
“It is one of the best care homes in the area and one of the last council-run care homes in south Derbyshire.”
Mr Essex told the Derby Telegraph he raised the issue with Heather Wheeler as the Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, and received a letter detailing that she had been unaware of the planned closure of the home, along with up to 10 others, and was “very surprised” to find out via an article in the Burton Mail newspaper.
The letter, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, details that Mrs Wheeler has been told by the county council that Castle Court may not be closed as a care home “but sold to an interested party to care on the care of elderly residents”. She writes that she was “shocked” to be told the home was “half empty” and said it “could be used in a much more intensive way”.
Mrs Wheeler said this could include a dementia unit or stepdown beds for rehabilitation from hospitals “rather than sending them to Ashbourne as happened now”.
Mr Essex dubbed the potential closure “diabolical”, saying: “We have got to try and fight to keep this place open. It is only half full because the council won’t pay for care. It could run at full capacity if it was given the financial backing. It doesn’t make sense to us.
“This is a cost-cutting exercise that doesn’t take consideration of the people who live there, people who are coming to the latter stages of their lives who are being cast out onto the streets. It could be run privately but we are not convinced about the care they would provide.
“We have all just got grave concerns. It is having a big impact on the whole community.”
A county council spokesperson said: “We’d like to reassure everyone that no decisions will be made until we hear everyone’s views during the public consultation and we would urge everyone to have their say. The consultation is open until August 7 and there are lots of ways to take part, including drop-in sessions at libraries and online meetings.
“We understand this is an unsettling time for residents, families and carers but any decision about the future of our care homes would be made only after the consultation has concluded and nothing will be decided until we hear from everyone. With a growing number of people in Derbyshire living with dementia, we need to focus our resources on having the right options to support them and their carers, which would give us the resources to meet demand while ensuring we are sustainable so we can continue to support people who need us most.”
To take part in the consultation, visit the county council website.