Fury over plan to close isle’s elderly day centre

ISLANDERS have vowed to fight tooth and nail to halt the closure of Bute’s only elderly day centre with a quarter of its population signing a petition urging leaders to abandon the plan.

Staff and families were told last week that Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is proposing to axe day services at Thomson Court Dementia Day Care Centre in Rothesay.

It is the only facility of its kind on Bute that provides specialised care for people living with the disease and essential respite for spouses and relatives.

The plans could also see two other day centres closed on the mainland, in Oban and Dunoon, to make savings of around £160,000 a year.

The population of Bute is around 6,500 and a quarter of its population – 1,625 – are 60 and over. Islanders say elderly care has been gradually eroded over the years.

The island’s only care home closed recently as well as a hospital annexe providing beds and a memory club.

There are only seven beds on the island at Thomson Court, which are currently full, which means many elderly people with dementia requiring 24-hour care must leave the island for nursing homes on the mainland.

Islanders say visiting spouses, often frail themselves, are then forced to negotiate “unreliable” ferries.

Many do “whatever they can” to provide the care needed at home for as long as possible.

In a letter leaked to The Herald, Fiona Davies, chief officer of Argyll and Bute HSCP, warns that public finances are extremely tight and says it is examining where savings can be made.

A spokesman for the HSCP said no decision will be made this year.

Jean Moffat, head of Bute Community Council, said: “Eight years ago, we found out that they were literally closing the whole of Thomson Court, so beds and everything. I went to a council meeting and I was simply furious because there were processes and procedures to go through and they hadn’t bothered.

“We have no care homes on this island – not a single one – and it doesn’t look like we are ever going to get one. The only one we have is Thomson Court and it has only eight beds.

“Most of the elderly here have to go to the mainland. Elderly spouses and partners can have difficulty travelling to the mainland to visit and we have no ferries at Christmas and New Year.”

In many cases, she said, the day centre is the only respite carers have.

“What this means is that carers will not be able to cope and people living with dementia will be sent off the island,” she added.

“We are also – in Rothesay itself – one of the most impoverished areas in Scotland.”

A meeting will be held today by Argyll and Bute HSCP to discuss the plans.

“I’ve already gone through this and we will save it again,” added Ms Moffat.

“What we have to be wary of is that in two years they will just do the same thing again.”

A total of 1,250 people have signed a petition launched by Leigha Mcmillan and Heather Sweet, from a local nursery that organises visits by children to the day centre.

Ms Sweet, depute manager of Apple Tree nursery, said: “On a personal level, my aunt, who is now deceased, had dementia and she attended Thomson Day Centre every day and we were so grateful as a family that we could get the respite.

“She was a woman who tended to wander around the island. We knew when she was at Thomson Court, that we knew where she was, that she was being stimulated.

“We are losing all our elderly facilities,” she added. “We used to have a memory club in the island – it closed down.

“We used to have an annexe at the hospital and it also closed down. Thomson Day Centre and residential service is our last hope and for us to lose the day centre would be really heartbreaking and disappointing.”

A spokesman for the HSCP said: “We are continuing to face increasing financial pressures through rising costs and inflation.

“As a consequence of these pressures, a number of savings proposals will be discussed at the IJB including a review of day service provision for older adults at Struan Day Care in Dunoon, Thomson Court Day Care in Rothesay, and Lynnside in Oban.

“A decision will not be made on closure this year.”

For us to lose the day centre would be really heartbreaking