Anger over day centre care cuts

11:38am Friday 21st March 2008

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RELATIVES of elderly people using a day centre in Melksham are angry after they were told the service is being withdrawn.

Doreen Fitzhugh's husband Frederick has been going to the day centre at Brookside Care Home in Ruskin Avenue twice a week for about a year.

But last week she received a letter out of the blue from the county council saying the service was being withdrawn.

Mrs Fitzhugh, 83, of Penine Close in Melksham, said her 86-year-old husband is heartbroken' as he has made many friends at the day centre.

She said: "My husband is housebound otherwise - he can't get out and wander around.

"The only other time he gets out is when I can take him out and wheel him around in a wheelchair. He doesn't meet up with people very often at all. But he meets people he knows at the day centre, he feels safe there.

"He is heartbroken, it's a wonderful place there. None of us can see why they are doing it."

About 16-17 patients use the day centre each day and it is open to both residents and non-residents of the Order of St John-run care home.

Mr Fitzhugh, a retired Royal Marine Commando and factory manager, is disabled with Paget's Bone Disease and also has dementia.

Other than two visits a day from a carer, his wife looks after him all the time and the two days he spends at the centre give her vital respite.

He can only walk a few steps at a time with a walking frame and she says he would find it very difficult if he were forced to travel to a day centre elsewhere in the county.

She said: "The day centre gives me respite and now they are going to take that amenity away from us.

"We've been told they'll have to go to day care centres around the county like in Trowbridge and other outlying towns. Why should they have to travel several miles a day?"

Mrs Fitzhugh has also been told that if she does not want to take up the offer of a day centre elsewhere, she can receive a payment instead to make her own arrangements.

County council cabinet member for community services Cllr John Thomson said there were fewer and fewer people wanting day care.

He said: "The feedback from people is that they want more flexible and accessible types of activities in the day.

"However for anyone who wants to continue to receive day care in Order of St John homes we will work together to ensure this happens.

"This is all about making improvements to day care services for the future."

He added that the council would meet the relatives of the day centre users in the next few weeks to listen to their requirements and preferences.