MSP listens to relatives’ fears of cost-cutting
Dementia care home campaign stepped up
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A campaign to safeguard specialised nursing care for dementia sufferers at an Aberdeen care home gained momentum yesterday.
City MSP Lewis Macdonald visited Woodgrove Nursing Home to listen to the concerns of residents’ families who fear their relatives could die prematurely if they are victims of cost-cutting measures.
They are worried that the health of dementia and Alzheimer’s sufferers could dramatically deteriorate if they are moved to hospitals.
Newmachar woman Kathleen Milligan, whose 90-year-old mother Mable Cumming has lived in the home for seven years, fears she would deteriorate if transferred to Cornhill or Woodend hospitals.
Nursing care provision at the 40-bed home, run by social care charity VSA, could soon end and the facility would be reregistered with the Scottish Care Commission as a home for only social care support.
The charity said it had no choice but to review its future because there was a real danger of it racking up a debt of £300,000.
A change of rules in the national care home contracts for older people means it does not receive the same level of funding as before.
The charity is finding it “extremely difficult” to subsidise the potential deficit.
Mr Macdonald, Aberdeen Central Labour MSP, was given a guided tour of the facility in May Baird Avenue, built in 1997, by manager Jo Walker.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Macdonald said: “The proposal for removal of nursing care is concerning, particularly for the loved ones of residents who are concerned that the quality of care will decline.”
The MSP has raised concerns with VSA, Aberdeen City Council, NHS Grampian and Scottish Government ministers about the proposal.
“I am very concerned that people in need of care will lose out,” he said.
“These proposals must not go ahead without full and proper consideration of the interests of residents and the views of their families.”
A spokeswoman for VSA said last month that talks were under way to ensure that nursing support is provided by NHS Grampian.
