Solution needed after Auchinlee care home closes

LONG-term solutions must be thought through for the care of older people in Kintyre and Mid Argyll, says Councillor Donald Kelly.

With the closing of Auchinlee Care Home in Campbeltown, the majority of residents have gone to Lorne Campbell Court, where accommodation has been modified for their care, but the councillor fears that momentum might be lost.

‘Six staff moved with them from Auchinlee and four more are to be recruited – all Argyll and Bute staff,’ said the councillor. ‘Lorne

Campbell Court was a short-term measure to continue to deliver nursing care model. We are not taking a look at other avenues and other ways of caring for folk in the community.

Pressure

‘People need to be cared for in their own locality. We need to be putting pressure on to fulfil the promises made when the Auchinlee closure was announced, to find alternative accommodation to meet needs of the community longterm.’

He added: ‘We have got an ageing population

and must make sure we have the capacity to look after the elderly. There are always going to be people who can’t go into the community and need nursing 24-7.’

Councillor Kelly fears that if longterm solutions are not found now, there

will be elderly people bed-blocking at Campbeltown Hospital or ‘out-sourced’ to care homes as far away as Glasgow.

Extension

Among the solutions he would like to see investigated more fully are the possible extension to the existing private

nursing home in Campbeltown and the use of suitable accommodation at the former air base.

There is a substantial brown-brick office block which was its administration centre and this could be developed.

‘When they visited

Campbeltown, I took Care Commission representatives to the base and showed them. The office block absolutely requires investigation. With modifications it could be turned into multifunction care centre with accommodation for people still living independently.’