Demonstration planned before care home crisis talks

A PROTEST was planned outside Argyll and Bute Council HQ at Kilmory Castle, Lochgilphead, on Thursday, before a crucial meeting to decide the future of Auchinlee care home in Campbeltown.

The 24-bed specialist dementia facility, which opened in 1952, is facing closure after reportedly running at a loss of £250,000 a year, due to its owner CrossReach, an arm of the Church of Scotland, having to recruit agency workers to cover staff shortages.

The only other care home in Campbeltown is full and relatives face moving residents miles from the area. An eleventh hour emergency summit in mid December postponed a final decision for three months, after the owners and local authority agreed to share the losses, costing taxpayers around £31,000.

Campbeltown councillor Donald Kelly said: ‘If Auchinlee is allowed to close without any alternative provision being put in place, this will have a devastating impact on the current residents and their families.’

Concern was also raised at Lochgilphead Community Council on Monday, when councillor Sandy Taylor said: ‘We must do everything we can to stop the closure.’

The demonstration was organised by the Save Auchinlee group, which explained on its Facebook page: ‘Elderly and dementia patients face the prospect of being removed from their place of residence, where they have lived for many years.’