A PENSIONER has been forced to leave her nursing home for the second time in six months because of the crisis facing care for the elderly.
In March, Amy Kerner celebrated her 92nd birthday at Kiniver nursing home in Teignmouth, shortly after moving there from the Gatehouse nursing home in Holcombe, which had closed with four days' warning.
Now Mrs Kerner has had to move again, because Kiniver is closing on October 4. Owner Neville Platt said that he cannot afford to meet spiralling costs, and blamed poor funding from Devon County Council and the Government.
Last week in Parliament Teignbridge MP Richard Younger-Ross described Mrs Kerner's case as 'deplorable'.
Her daughter, Ann Hibbard, of Dawlish, said that she was appalled at the situation facing her mother.
'It's diabolical, it really is,' she said. 'There seems to be no care in place for the elderly at all. If home after home is closing, where the hell are they going to go? I feel very strongly and emotional about it.'
She said that her mother was suffering from severe dementia, and was very frail.
'I've picked my mother up twice this year like a parcel,' she said. 'Nobody knows what she is feeling. It's bad enough seeing her with her condition, let alone all this extra hassle.'
The only bright spot is that Mrs Hibbard has managed to find another home for her mother.
'I suppose I'm lucky because I have found somewhere, but it is further away and involves extra journey time and expense.'
Mrs Hibbard said that if elderly people had nowhere to go, hospital beds would remain occupied for longer,
'That would have a knock-on effect, leading to a logjam down the line,' she said. 'I've gone public because I want the situation to be highlighted. Something has to be done if this is not to turn into a massive social disaster, especially in the South West where care homes seem to be disappearing fast.'
In Parliament, Mr Younger-Ross spoke of the need for greater protection for the vulnerable old.
'This is not the first time that I have stood up in Parliament to press for a fairer deal for older people,' he said. 'I am only too aware that care homes are under severe financial pressures. It's time the provided adequate funding so that the number of closures can be dramatically reduced.
'Sudden upheaval for the elderly often leads to illness and may even cause death. This cannot be allowed to continue.'