Shropshire MP insists care level fine, despite closures

Mr Paterson said he would continue to monitor the situation after Gadlas Hall Nursing Home in Dudleston Heath, near Ellesmere became the latest to announce it would be closing.

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Shropshire Council has cancelled its contract with the nursing home.

Its closure will put 30 jobs at risk and force more than 20 residents to relocate.

The news comes after Legrand Nursing Home in Tilstock, near Whitchurch, announced in May it would close, leaving 39 employees out of work after financial struggles and recruitment issues.

Prior to that, Westlands Care Home in Wem was closed by managers at Coverage Care Services in March after it lost £25,000 a year for the last five years.

Mr Paterson, MP for North Shropshire, said: "I did raise this at my last health meeting, which I have every two months, and we agreed to keep an eye on it.

"At the time sadly the care home in Wem had just closed. But people there were found alternative accommodation.

"We agreed we would keep an eye on it and make sure the council reports back to us. There have been significant investments prior to that with new care homes in places such as Oswestry.

"We felt there is adequate capacity looking ahead."

But John Dodson, who is a member of Wem, Whitchurch & District Senior Citizens Forum, disagrees and said what was happening was "unacceptable".

"The trauma for residents for whom such a home is their home never changes when a move is imposed and for some will be very distressing," he said.

"It is likely that some of these residents will be dispersed around the county because there are not enough residential places locally to cover those being relocated."

Pauline Powell, who took over the management of Gadlas Hall in January, said the stress is making some of the elderly residents ill."