Camden New Journal - letters - Save our care homes

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Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 3 May 2007

Save our care homes

• PHOEBE Watkins’ letter questioning Camden council’s proposals to sell-off its residential care homes makes a lot of sense (They have no right to sell family silver‚ April 26).
Having visited the dementia care home St Margaret’s a number of times I have found staff to be dedicated and highly skilled. Where moderate to severe symptoms of dementia are concerned the quality and quantity of staff are of paramount importance. Camden’s social care department appears happy to contemplate shredding the continuity of care that has been built up over the years.
The building that St Margaret’s occupies is a highly desirable site adjacent to Hampstead Heath, and is a throwback to a pre-First World War age of opulence. Behind the Gothic façade, however, you find a modernised property extended and adapted to cater for residents’ needs. It is inspected regularly and found to be fit for purpose. As Camden’s consultation document, Serving Older People‚ admits, it is well liked by its residents and their relatives.
No-one is likely to object to the proposal to build extra-care sheltered housing. The way this is bundled in with the proposal to sell off Camden’s existing residential care homes is, however, highly contentious. It seems we are being bribed to accept an unpalatable proposal.
Extra-care sheltered housing might offer some solution to the needs of early-stage dementia sufferers, but would be unlikely to work with more severe conditions. With the expected huge increase in demand for dementia care that is set to accompany our increased life expectancy, now is not the time to start to down-size our dementia provision and sell off our most valuable resources.
An increase in the death rate would inevitably follow any attempt to uproot residential care residents. The consultation document, with its smiling glossy photos of elderly people whose lives Camden is about to put seriously at risk, is really just another dodgy document.
RICHARD JOLLY
Reachview Close, NW1

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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