Ref. 25714-05ANOTHER care home for the elderly is closing down, forcing residents to find new accommodation.

Springfield House in Station Road, Purton, closes today after owner Chris Kenrick, 60, retires due to health problems.

All 15 residents of the Elderly Mentally Infirmed (EMI) home have been found new accommodation in and around Swindon.

Less than three years ago Mr Kenrick managed three homes, but he says he was forced to close them because of endless piles of paperwork and red tape.

In September 2000 he closed the County House residential home in County Road, which was believed to have housed around 12 residents. In February 2002 he shut the County House nursing home in The Mall, which had around 16 residents.

Mr Henrick then turned both homes into private accommodation. He says he has tried for the past 18 months to find new owners to take over the running of Springfield House which had 15 residents but to no avail.

He said: "People do not want to come into the business any more.

"With the introduction of the Care Standards Act in 2001 came a lot of red tape. So much so that the Government had to recede or they would not have had any care homes left.

"A letter arrived this morning containing a form that needs to be completed in order to close the place down it's going to take four hours just to do that.

"The situation has got really bad," Mr Kenrick said.

He said the future of the smaller care homes looked bleak. "It used to be a very satisfying career. If you like old people it is great but it is just not worth it any more there is no pleasure in it.

"I have decided to get out now, I have had some health problems and it is the right time.

"It really is a shame. The residents get a lot better personal service in the smaller places like this home."

Mr Kenrick and his wife, Dee, 63, are unsure about what they are planning to do with the building but have not ruled out further housing developments.

This latest closure will fuel concern over the lack of care home places.

While the number of people aged above 60 living in Swindon has risen by 3,000 over the last decade, the number of care home spaces has fallen by more than 200 in less than two years.

This has worsened the bed-blocking problems at Great Western Hospital. Chief executive of Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, Lyn Hill-Tout, said: "The continued reduction in the number of care homes in the town is certainly a cause for concern."

She said pressure on bed spaces at the hospital were affected by delays in discharging some patients awaiting care home accommodation.

"There is a real need for suitable care spaces in the community and this is something I know that Social Services are working towards."

Two months ago the Evening Advertiser told how 20 pensioners including 97 year-old Elizabeth Bracken-bury were told to leave Hurst House care in Pinehurst, as new owners could not be found to take over the running of the home.

Mrs Brackenbury was allocated a place in Westlecott Manor residential home but she has found it difficult to adjust. Her health has deteriorated to the extent that she sometimes fails to recognise her daughter Eileen Huck.

Mrs Huck, of Alnwick, in Toothill, blames the move.

She said: "Sometimes she doesn't even recognise me."

Mrs Huck said the Government should impose measures to prevent any more closing.

"If people want to retire, officials should come in and run it until another owner is found. The situation has got out of hand," Mrs Huck said.

Jo Osorio, director of Age Concern Swindon, said: "It is very stressful for elderly people to have to move.

There are 196 registered care homes in Swindon, 44 of which are nursing homes..