It's time to come clean

SWINDON Council is being pressed to come clean about the two care homes for the elderly it plans to close.

The Evening Advertiser can reveal exclusively that a councillor is alleged to have leaked closure details to staff at one of the doomed homes, even though the council's administration claims no final decision has been made.

The two homes named by the council mole are Lease Hill in Branksome Road, Moredon and Pine Trees in The Circle, Pinehurst.

Although there are no plans for an official announcement by Swindon Council's Conservative administration until mid-April, there is a growing chorus of calls to end the speculation immediately to reduce the stress among carers and residents.

All six Swindon council-run care homes for the elderly are in the grip of fear and uncertainty, which is threatening the health of the frail, vulnerable residents.

This is substantiated by a distressed woman employee of Lease Hill who claims a visiting councillor leaked the names unwittingly of the two homes to be axed, believing that the manager had already been tipped off so that residents could be prepared for the shock news.

Lease Hill, built in the early 1970s, is home to 25 elderly, frail residents, plus six who are there to provide a rest period for their home carers. The jobs of 42 staff are on the line.

But it is the human, emotional cost, illustrated so graphically through one 92-year-old female resident, that is haunting every member of staff.

"As soon as word went round that our home was to be closed, this woman started packing," said our informant, who fears she would be blacklisted by the council for future employment if her identity was made public.

"Despite our assurances that she hasn't to get out yet, she packs up all her worldly goods every day. It's heartbreaking to see it, but what do you expect?

"These are very vulnerable people. This has been their home for many years. They expected to die here with dignity. Now the trauma may well shorten their lives. They are having their security pulled away from them. The strain of the suspense is showing.

"Happy faces are now haunted. This may sound melodramatic but the reality is that fear is thick in the air."

There is speculation that Lease Hill is being chosen for the chop because it has a lot of land and would be attractive to a developer.

"It's sick to think that all these old folk could be uprooted just so that some fat profiteer can make a fast buck," said the Lease Hill employee.

The council administration has for many months made it clear that two of their care homes must be closed because they are too expensive to run and also due to new government regulations.

Coun Jemima Milton (Con, Wroughton and Chiseldon), who until recently was the lead member for social services, reported on several occasions that none of the six homes could ever be modernised to meet the new government standards because of a lack of space.

Both she and her successor, Coun Ian Dobie (Con, Haydon Wick), have stressed that no resident will be evicted. They will all be placed within the private sector.

Another senior staff member at Lease Hill said: "Our name has been floating around, but the consultation process with relatives doesn't finish until March 22. If the council has any sense at all, we won't be closed."

Pine Trees has 40 beds and has been tipped for closure ever since the countdown to a decision began.

Staff at both homes are hoping to be employed elsewhere within Swindon social services. No one was available for comment at Pine Trees.

The leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrat groups, Coun Kevin Small (Western) and Coun Mike Evemy (Eastcott) have both condemned the planned closures as a "disgrace" and "disgusting".

But Coun Dobie commented: "This smacks to me of kite-flying. I have said before and I repeat, there is no home out of the six that is at this stage earmarked for closure. A small working party, including myself, another councillor and officers, is still examining the merits of each of the homes and our minds have still to be made up. If a councillor has told these homes that a decision has already been made on their fate, then he or she has misled them."

Many privately run care homes have already been closing throughout Swindon and Wiltshire because of under-funding and red tape. The last one to go out of business was Hurst House in Pine Tree Rise. Residents were given just one month to find alternative accommodation. Elizabeth Brackenbury, 97, was dead within three months.

The number of elderly people in Swindon has soared by 3,000 in the last 10 years. In contrast, the number of care home places in the town has fallen by more than 200 in just two years.

Michael Litchfieldco.uk