Daughter Fears Mother’s Move as Care Home Faces Closure

The thought of their mother having to move out of the area if her care home closes fills her family with dread, her daughter has said.
Gaynor Lucas Roberts’ mum Joyce Jenkins is currently a resident at Cae Glas care home in Hawthorn, which Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council is considering closing.
Gaynor said the decision to enter a consultation period to close the home had come as a shock to her, her family and other families, friends and staff there.
The council has said that the home has not reached full capacity for some time and is not financially sustainable and that it would close once suitable accommodation was found for its residents in a home of their choice which met their assessed needs.
But Gaynor said: “We need to show we care for those who once cared for us. Our time is coming, we are an ageing population with 20% of the residents of RCT being over 65.
“The consultation process says that it will involve all stake holders including the most important of all, the service users.
“However, as in our case and many others, the residents are not able to advocate for themselves or engage in such a process and so once again they are put to one side whilst decisions are made for them. This is nothing short of eviction from their homes.”
Gaynor said her family had power of attorney for their mother on her health
and wellbeing and would advocate for her.
Her mother is 86 years old and has Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia which is a chronic progressive illness.
Gaynor said: “The decision for my mother to go into a care home was not
taken lightly and was a very emotional stressful time.,My mother is very independent and had worked all her life as a psychiatric nurse giving care to others in their darkest hours.
“She has paid her dues and now it is her turn to be cared for.”
She said her mother had attempted to live independently for 18 months with home care four times a day and the support of Gaynor and her brother Gary Lucas.
Gaynor said this was inadequate and unsafe as she was entitled to four 15 minute calls a day adding that she fractured both her femurs, fractured her wrist and sustained many horrendous head injuries and facial lacerations due to multiple falls as her condition worsened during this time.
Gaynor said her mother lost a significant amount of weight due to not eating and had multiple hospital admissions due to UTI as a result of not drinking adequately.
Gaynor asked: “Is this how we see the future of care of the elderly
and how can this be considered cost effective?”
Her mother was eventually admitted to Ty Ross in Treherbert on respite care as Gaynor developed Covid and it was at the time that people were not advised to see elderly family members.
It was then decided that it was not safe for Joyce to live independently and that she lacked capacity.
The family chose to move her to Cae Glas in Hawthorn as it was close to them, had a good reputation and lots of the staff and residents were from the community who her mother knew.
Gaynor said: “We were on a waiting list for over a year for my mother to move to Cae Glas so how it is stated that they operate below capacity is hard to believe.
“The visits to Ty Ross were horrendous after work every night especially in the dark winter nights it took us 45 minutes drive each way and only to spend 30 minutes with our mother.
“The family dynamics changed and our mother became withdrawn and
appeared to be out of the family circle.
“The change in her once moved to Cae Glas was remarkable. It was a familiar environment for her and she was able to come to our homes again for Sunday lunch, Christmas dinner and out for family meals and shopping.
“We were also able to take her on holidays to Porthcawl which she loves. She is once again in the family circle surrounded by those who love her.
“The principles of the adult strategy include feeling part of the community and feeling a sense of belonging. Moving our elderly residents out of area is a contradiction.
“The thought of our mother being moved back up the Rhondda fills us with
dread and will hugely impact the quality of our relationship in what is the winter of her life. We know that she will deteriorate very quickly.”
She said her story also resonated with all the other residents and families where the thought of uprooting them to another home out of their area filled them with dread.
Gaynor said residents had become their neighbours and friends and
the wonderful staff their extended family.
She said: “The principles of the adult strategy for care services talks about
health and wellbeing and community spirit. Health and wellbeing is much more than meeting identified care needs, it is being close to your loved ones in a place you can call home in a community where you feel that you belong.”
A spokesperson for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said: “We are aware that the people affected by the proposals for Cae Glas Care Home are anxious and worried about a possible change to their care and support.
“The council of course regrets that difficult decisions have to be made within this challenging financial context, and that these inevitably have a personal impact.
“At this stage, cabinet has only agreed to a period of consultation with regard to the decommissioning of the care home, and that the outcome of the consultation and a more detailed equality impact assessment will be subject to further consideration before any final decision is made.
“We will engage closely with those directly affected during the consultation to understand their individual concerns, which will be included in a future report to cabinet following the consultation – in order to inform any future decision making by members.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​