THE director of adult social services at Somerset County Council came in for a barrage of criticism from people worried about the impending closure of Stratfield House in Wellington which is a lifeline for those with dementia and their carers.

Stephen Chandler had arrived at Wellington Town Council’s meeting last week to discuss further the reasons for the closure of the Popham Court care home. But he agreed before the meeting to answer questions about the planned closure of Stratfield House in Bulford, set to shut at the end of January.

Members of the audience at the meeting – some with relatives living with dementia and others who work at Stratfield House – passionately and emotionally appealed to Mr Chandler to reverse the decision to close the building which provides day care services to dementia clients and in doing so gives vital respite for their carers.

The county council has decided to remove funding for the service at Stratfield House which is run by the Somerset Partnership NHS Trust.

Tim Baverstock, County Hall’s strategic commissioning manager for adult social care, last month told town councillors that funding would go to individual clients for them to find and finance their own services.

But local people are not convinced this is the right way to go about providing services for those with dementia and their carers and believe Stratfield House should continue with the adage ‘if it’s not broken, why fix it?’

Dr Sally di Mambro, of Wellington Medical Centre, said: “We are very concerned about the impending closure of Stratfield House. The communication from the council to the medical agencies has been very poor. What happens to these people next? There will be an impact on them and their carers.”

Dr di Mambro said that closing day care services at Stratfield House would make those people who care for relatives unemployable as they would have to stay at home all the time with their loved ones – ‘unless they put them in a nursing home’, which is not what they want to do. “Stratfield House has provided an excellent service for this area,” she added.

She told councillors that the closure would possibly see those people with dementia receiving the services they need in ‘ad hoc locations and with no continuity in care’.

Tara Rowland has gained strong support from people with a petition she started asking for the authorities to keep Stratfield House open. “The community of Wellington wants it to stay,” she told the town council meeting.

Carer Lorraine Banks added: “I don’t think the people who make these decisions have lived with people with dementia for 24 hours.”

Mrs Banks told councillors specialist staff at Stratfield provided respect and dignity for those with dementia and within a safe environment. “Closing Stratfield would cause a crisis,” she said. “The people planning on closing it have no idea of what goes on there. They haven’t been to see us.”

And Mark Rowland warned ‘we could have a death on our hands’ if the decision to close Stratfield House went ahead.

Mr Chandler said he did not accept the criticism that the county council ‘hadn’t been open and transparent’ about the plan to close Stratfield House.

“I haven’t been to Stratfield House, but I have worked in nursing homes and with people with complex dementia and so I do understand – please don’t think I’m sat in complete ignorance,” he said. “But we can’t sustain the current model of care and keeping Stratfield House is just not credible.”

Cllr Andrew Govier said: “People need clarity on what the alternative is. We need reassurances that there will be something in the future for their loved ones which will also provide respite for their carers.”

Cllr Marcus Barr thought it was ‘very short-sighted to close Stratfield’ as it was reported that more and more people were being diagnosed as having dementia.

And the Mayor, Cllr Gary James, added: “I think closing Stratfield House will be a very grave error of judgement as we have an increasing ageing population. But it looks as if the dye has been cast.”