Home closure will hit our husbands

Home closure will hit our husbands

25 November 2015

THREE women have spoken of their fear for their husbands’ future following news their Ballynahinch care home will close.

Staff and residents of Oakridge Care Home were yesterday informed it will close at the end of February, leaving 74 people out of work and 58 residents without a home.

Four Seasons Healthcare announced yesterday that seven care homes would close in Northern Ireland and blamed underfunding and a shortage of nurses.

The news has shocked the Ballynahinch community and the wives of three men cared for in the home’s specialist unit for advanced dementia patients have warned their partners may not even survive the closure.

Iris Walker, whose husband Jimmy has lived at Oakridge for two-and-a-half years, said she feared a moved to a new home would kill him.

Having received a letter just yesterday informing her of the closure, she said she was very distressed by the uncertainty and the unsettling impact it would have on her husband, who has vascular dementia.

“The patients are settled in the home and trying to move them somewhere else will be very, very hard,” she said.

“This home caters for many with dementia and they are vulnerable to change because it is so disorientating for them. Many of them are elderly and very frail and to hear they will have to move elsewhere is devastating.

“If my husband has to move it will kill him. When you love somebody you don’t want any harm to come to them.

“Something has to be done about this. You can’t just shut it down.“

Margaret Taylor, whose husband Richard has advanced dementia, said she too was devastated by the impact a move would have on him.

“Richard can’t talk any more, he can only walk with assistance, he needs pureed food, he is totally and utterly dependant on this home where the staff are so good to him and where he is so settled,” she said.

“The staff know his ways. He can’t talk to express what he wants, they know and understand and respect him here. He deserves better than to have to move at this stage of his life.”

Margaret, who lives in Ballynahinch, said she was also concerned she would not be able to visit her husband regularly if he moved to another town.

“This has been a bombshell to us all. I am also devastated for the staff and wonder what will happen to them?” she said.

Ruth Pickford, from Newcastle, said she feared her husband, Roy, who has advanced Alzheimer’s, would also not cope with a move.

“Any move or change is so distressing for him, that is the nature of the illness,” she said.

“Even though he can’t express it you can tell by his reaction.

“It would also be very difficult for him to be placed in another home at this stage as many of the other homes do not cater for severe patients.

“Roy is used to pacing up and down the corridors that are home to him. He is declining all the time but he has been settled since he moved here. I cannot fault this home, the care he receives is second to none.

A Four Seasons Health Care spokesman said the decision was “difficult but unavoidable” and had been taken for a number of reasons including underfunding and a nursing staff shortage.

He said the wellbeing of residents was a priority and the home would continue to provide care while alternative accommodation is sought.

“The principal reason behind this decision is that each of these homes is operating at a loss and they are no longer viable,” he said.

“The fee income that the homes receive is below the cost of the care they are providing and we have effectively been paying a subsidy for them to continue to provide care.

“Additionally, the national shortage of nurses means it has been difficult to recruit and retain permanent staff of the right calibre. 

“This leaves the homes reliant on temporary agency nurses in order to maintain staffing levels, that carries a high cost and presents challenges in maintaining the quality of care we expect to provide.”