Anger as 95-year-old dementia patient forced to move from council care home AGAIN
The daughter of a 95-year-old dementia patient has told of her outrage that her mother will have to be moved for the second time due to the closure of a council-run care home.
Edith Jones has been a resident at Russell Court care home on Overfield Road, Dudley, since 2011. She moved there after the closure of another council-run care home, Amblecote House, on King William Street, Stourbridge, and has become settled.
Her daughter, 70-year-old Maureen Stanyard from Brierley Hill, said she couldn't believe it when she discovered that she would have to uproot her elderly mother again, after Dudley Council approved plans to close Russell Court on September 30.
Russell Court is the last council-run residential care home for the elderly in Dudley.
"I am so angry about it," said Mrs Stanyard, who is also concerned about the eight other permanent residents at the home, who she says are all in their 80s and 90s.
"It is unfair to these old people who are being moved from pillar to post. My mum thought she was going to be there for the rest of her life. It's her home that she knows, and although she suffers from dementia, she recognises some of the staff.
"I cannot fault the home. The care is exemplary. They do everything for my mum and I am extremely grateful."
There are 62 people employed at the home, who the council says are being offered either voluntary redundancy or the opportunity to move to vacant positions in the borough.
The council has cited the substantial cost of work to update the facility as the reason behind the closure, with a quote estimating it would cost in the region of £1 million.
The decision to close the home was put forward by Councillor Qadar Zada, cabinet member for adult social care.
He said: "It is regrettable that it is no longer financially feasible for the council to continue to run the service.
"We apologise for the disruption caused to everyone using the service, particularly the nine long term residents."
