For Marjorie Aspden, 95, Woodlands care home in Clayton-le-Moors in Accrington was the perfect place to spend her twilight years. When she looked out from the window of her room, she saw the woods that she played in as a young girl and felt a sense of contentment.
Now she and hundreds of other elderly residents are facing uncertainty after the Reform-led Lancashire county council announced it would consult on plans to close care homes in the area.
Last month it began a consultation on moving residents out of five local authority care homes and day centres into other premises. The consultation closes in mid-December and the cabinet will make a final decision on the closures in February.
“We’ve been delighted with the home and with the room, we moved her there because her needs are just too great to have kept her in sheltered housing,” said Marjorie’s son, Phil. “We moved her six months ago and I can’t bear to tell her what’s happening because I think she’d be heartbroken to be moving again.”
He said the council had already started a review of his mother’s care needs, which he believes “seems premature if the consultation stage is still in place, so it feels like the decision is all but made”.
Dorothy Devereux, 92, has lived at Woodlands, for 12 years. Before that, she worked as a nurse and carer. When the time came to be placed in a home, she was adamant it had to be Woodlands, as it was the only place she felt she could comfortably spend her final years.
Marjorie Aspden, 95, with her son, Phil. He says she’d be heartbroken to hear the closure plans. Photograph: Supplied
For Dorothy’s children, Frances and Simon, the plans are unacceptable. They say a report being used to justify Woodland’s possible sale is years out of date and that there is not enough space for people to go in the remaining care homes in the area, with some possibly being relocated far distances away.
“From everything we’ve seen so far, as little as it is, all that they’ve talked about is money, they’ve not even considered the human cost,” said Simon. “They haven’t thought about how this impacts our parents, where they will go, how happy they will be. Not only does it seem impossible, it’s cruel, especially from a party that claims to have respect for people who have contributed to society.”
The siblings were only made aware of the plans from their mother and received no official notice from the council or the home.
Frances Duxbury is among a handful of the 50 residents at Woodlands who are aware of the plans, with many others who have conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s not being able to fully understand the situation.
Some of the loved ones of these residents were only made aware that their parents were under threat of being moved when they were added to a WhatsApp group to discuss it.
The proposal has been referred to as one of a series of decisions made by Reform councils to balance budgets, fuelled by the principles of their Trump-inspired Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge.
Centenarian Ken Ormerod with his daughter Aileen Walmsley, a retired Woodlands care staff. She fears her father may not survive if he was made to move again. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian
Some residents have complex mental and emotional needs, which have led to their children choosing not to tell them, so as to not shatter the sense of calm they have found at the home.
Centenarian Ken Ormerod, who lives with anxiety, has been a resident at Woodlands for two years. His daughter, Aileen Walmsley, used to work there, while her daughter and granddaughter are employed at the home. She says her father wouldnot be able to survive if he was made to move again.
“My dad’s been passed from pillar to post, he’s had such a hard life and he’s always been a bit of a hermit,” she said. “Since being here he’s come out of his shell, he’s smiling like he hasn’t for years. He always used to eat alone, now he eats in the canteen. He’s even got a small group of friends, I can’t imagine him losing that, I don’t think he could go on if he did.”
Sarah Smith, the MP for Hyndburn where Woodlands is located, believes the additional cost of moving residents to private homes will lead to the council spending more money than it will save within 18 months.
“This seems to me like an ideological position rather than a logical one, just to meet the standards of Doge, which I think has come to stand for the department of granny evictions,” said Smith.
‘Ideological’: Woodlands care home. Sarah Smith, MP for Hyndburn where Woodlands is located believes the cost-cutting plans based on Doge principles in the US will cost the council more money. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Guardian
“They keep talking about ‘cutting the fat’ but there isn’t fat in council budgets. So, when they talk about cutting fat, they really mean cutting frontline services, but they aren’t thinking about the actual impact it will have.”
Graham Dalton, Lancashire county council’s cabinet member for adult social care, said the review was part of a “commitment to ensuring that the care we provide remains safe, high-quality, and sustainable for the years ahead” and that he and the council understood “how deeply valued these services are by those who use them and their families as well as staff and the wider community”.
He said: “We know that for many, these homes are not just buildings, they are places of comfort, familiarity and connection.
“The consultation we are running is a really important opportunity for people to share their views and help shape the future of adult social care in our county.
“I would also like to make it clear that no decisions have been made about the future of any of these services. We are consulting to find out people’s views to help us make the best decision when the issue is considered by cabinet.”
