Outrage as care home faces axe
Published 29 Jan 2012 08:00
FURIOUS campaigners say closing a Woodley care home could threaten the lives of its residents.
Campaigners fighting the consultation on the future of Fosters Care Home met on Tuesday at Woodley's Ambleside Centre to discuss how to lobby Wokingham Borough Council into abandoning the plans.
Margaret Boys, a former nurse whose mother has been at Fosters for four and a half years, said: "We are damned if this should go.
"We need Fosters, Woodley needs Fosters. Who are they to say we can't have it?"
The council launched a consultation on the future of the care home in November, when Stuart Rowbotham, strategic director of commissioning at the council, said: "It will cost at least £180,000 to keep Fosters running for the next year, and that is without making any improvements to the building.
"It is just not up to the standards and it has no long-term future, so now is the right time to begin this process."
The care home, which has been open for more than four decades, is currently home to 35 people and provides specialist care for dementia sufferers.
Campaigner Richard Morris said: "The council says the building is not up to scratch, but the home provides excellent facilities for dementia patients.
"Our strongest point is that we know from others that change for dementia patients can cause trauma and this is detrimental to their wellbeing.
"We are concerned a move may cause rapid deterioration in their health and bring forward death."
Residents will be moved to two Wokingham care homes, Beeches Manor, which is due to open in April, and Suffolk Lodge, but the council has said there will be "no rush" to transfer them because it admits there are not enough places to accommodate them all.
A petition against the closure has already secured more than 300 signatures and Mrs Boys said: "We are all happy with the care at Fosters, where people are treated with love, dignity and respect.
"We are a powerful voice and if we don't shout loud for our loved ones, who will?"
The consultation runs until Wednesday, February 8, and a decision is expected to be made by the executive committee in March.
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