HORRIFIED relatives are facing having to find a new nursing home for their aged loved ones after Bowood Court & Mews announced it was holding a consultation with a view to shutting its nursing care facility.
Ann Allbutt, aged 68, whose mother has been looked after for nine years at the Hewell Road home, said the family had been given three months to find new accommodation for the 93-year-old, who suffers from dementia.
“It’s disgusting. They have given us a month’s consultation but it looks like they’ve already made their minds up as they’ve stopped taking in people who need nursing care, and three months is not very long to find an alternative.
“There’s one old lady who is 104 and she’s in the same position.”
It is also likely that those alternatives will require additional top ups from family members to pay for the care.
Her brother Sandy McNerlin, aged 71, said: “There aren’t many places offering nursing care around Redditch – we looked at one but it was out of our price range while others have a waiting list.
“In one place her pension wasn’t enough and that was with her sharing a room with another elderly person.”
It’s a bitter blow for families who have made contributions to the Welfare State all their lives only to find the safety net they thought they’d paid for has disappeared.
Betty Hawthorne’s husband Peter has also been cared for at Bowood for nine years.
She said: “It’s absolutely appalling; My husband is 87, he’s had two strokes and is bedridden. I cannot fault the carers, they are all upset that the old folks have got to go.
“My sister travelled all the way down from Liverpool for a meeting at Bowood that last just five minutes.
“I’m 83 in October and there’s no way I can look after him – what are we to do?”
Dave Lock, managing director of Adept Care Homes, owner of Bowood Court & Mews said: “The quality of care we provide is the single most important factor for us and we are passionate about maintaining our high standards.
“Along with the rest of the UK, we have had considerable difficulties recruiting Registered General Nurses since taking over Bowood 16 months ago. This has meant we could not safely admit nursing care residents.
“With the number of our residents needing nursing care now reduced we have had to take the difficult decision to review this service. The vast majority of our residents are residential and dementia care and are unaffected.
“We understand this process is upsetting for those affected residents and their families who have always been very complimentary about the service we provide. We can only apologise for any distress caused and will of course continue to support them throughout this consultation process. We are moving quickly to complete this by the end of May. If the decision is then taken to close the service, we will give two months’ notice to allow families plenty of time to find new homes.”
