Relatives of elderly dementia patients at a soon-to-close Fartown nursing home have spoken of their fears.
Families of 33 patients at the Abbey Place Dementia Care Home in Abbey Road have been given just a month to find alternative accommodation for their loved ones.
But relatives say there is a severe shortage of so-called Elderly Mentally Infirm (EMI) nursing beds in Kirklees and many will struggle to find new homes before the November 28 deadline.
A Huddersfield man, whose 96-year-old mother moved to Abbey Place just five weeks ago, said it was “likely to prove impossible” for all 33 patients to find new places in time.
“Only weeks ago my family and I searched for EMI nursing places in the Huddersfield area and we found less than five vacant beds.
“Most suitable homes are already full and have waiting lists and some others are not allowed to take in new residents until they make changes and improvements to bring homes up to the standard required by the Care Quality Commission.”
The man said the only two homes in Kirklees with a place for his mother, who has severe Alzheimer’s disease, were Abbey Place and Woodlands Care Home in Mirfield.
Relatives and staff were summoned to meetings on Tuesday where senior managers from Orchard Care Homes, which runs the home, told them the dementia nursing units at Abbey Place would close on November 28.
The residential care unit will remain open.
Relatives were told the decision had been taken due to “financial pressures” and a lack of funding from Kirklees Council.
It is thought the majority of the 33 patients have their care paid for by the council, though some are privately funded.
The man said the care home insisted the council’s payments were not enough to cover the high level of staffing needed for EMI care.
He said relatives were told there was a shortage of EMI places in Kirklees and that they should look to Wakefield or Bradford instead. Orchard said the nearest places they had were in Darlington.
The man said his mother was barely aware of her surroundings so a move was unlikely to affect her but it was the stress and worry for relatives.
“The question is what happens if we can’t find new accommodation by the time the home closes?
“I am realistic enough to know they won’t be thrown on the streets but neither can they be sent home with relatives.”
Around 25 staff at the home have been put at risk of redundancy.
In a statement Orchard said: “Firstly we would like to make it absolutely clear that the home is not closing: our nursing dementia unit will now move to residential dementia care.
“Unfortunately, the fees available for nursing dementia care are not sufficient for us to sustain the service.
“We have provided notice to the local authority and are working in close partnership with all agencies to find suitable alternatives for the residents who are affected.
“Many of our staff will be retained at Abbey Place and we will seek wherever possible to redeploy others to one of our other homes in the Kirklees and Calderdale areas.”
