Milton view Town needs investment
Dear Sir I have spoken to so many residents regarding future investment and improvements for Blantyre.
There have been phone calls, emails and people stopping me in the street. It is very clear that the community want investment in the area. They are proud of Blantyre and wish to see improvements.
Local groups, businesses and individuals all have a desire to see Blantyre flourish.
The community made it very clear they would like to see the Terminal One young people facility housed in a new building, better roads and pavements, street furniture, investment in play parks, including play equipment for children with disabilities, social housing and a new sports centre.
Tory and SNP austerity has meant that £1.5 billion has been cut from local councils. Will the Snp-run South Lanarkshire Council be able to deliver investment and improvement for Blantyre?
Councillor Bert Thomson Dear Sir I was appalled to learn of South Lanarkshire Council’s plans to close two care homes in the Hamilton locality.
This decision jeopardises the safety of some of the most vulnerable people in our society and appears to have been taken without any consultation with those who will be affected.
My 92-year-old father is living with dementia along with having a number of other health issues, including a heart condition. Moves of any kind for increasingly frail and elderly people, many of whom have dementia, can be extremely disorientating, distressing and upsetting, no matter how carefully managed. This makes the decision to close care homes which look after people with complex care needs all the more concerning.
The correspondence given to worried family members from SLC and the Health and Social Care Partnership has been totally inadequate. I obtained more information by reading the Hamilton Advertiser than from the council. The pro-forma letter issued by the council on April 21 gave little detail about how this decision was reached, timescales, how it will affect the people currently receiving 24-hour care in the homes, the impact on relatives or what it will mean for staff employed in the facilities.
The letter stated “As part of the council’s investment in future provision, these will be replaced by a brand new care facility.” This suggests people currently in care within the affected facilities will be transferred to this purpose-built facility. However, there is clearly not enough capacity for this to be possible and creates huge uncertainty and distress for vulnerable people in the care homes and their relatives.
Caring properly for the elderly, infirm and those living with dementia should be an absolute priority for South Lanarkshire Council – this clearly isn’t the case. It is time for transparency on how this decision was made, who was responsible, what factors were taken into consideration.
We are living in a society where people are living longer, some people do want to remain living independently in their own homes for longer and of reducing budgets for care. However, we have many people who do require 24-hour care and this number will only increase with people living longer.
To therefore make decisions to close valuable care facilities without making adequate provision to look after those in desperate need is extremely concerning.
This isn’t just a decision which will affect those vulnerable people currently in the care homes under threat, it will have a profound effect on people in communities right across Lanarkshire as they worry about their own future care needs and those of their loved ones as they get older.
Both the council and health and social care partnership use phrases like ‘reablement’, ‘changing needs’, ‘utilising new technology’ and ‘independent living’ to cover the real meaning – cuts and saving money.
Care and support for elderly and vulnerable people is what is important, but this is clearly not a priority for South Lanarkshire Council and the Health and Social Care Partnership.
Anne Craney,uddingston