Elderly care should not be for profit

We have the best health care system but the cost is high, and GPs and the local health service staff struggle with limited budgets, especially for elderly and nursing care.

But to learn that a North Argyll care home is to withdraw nursing care because of unsustainable cost as it cannot find nursing staff smacks of side-lining some residents who are too expensive to keep.

This will result in the elderly being shunted about as their health declines because private providers of care, that may be funded by the local authority, can’t make a decent profit.

The answer may be for local nursing to change to charitable or not-forprofit model and the tax benefits therein for its staff willing to accept structured pay for career designated, sometimes lifelong, work, because the care industry needs to keep its dedicated staff as we are all living longer and will possibly need some care in the twilight of our years. Stephen Jones, Millpark, Oban.