Call For Vale Elderly Care Service Expansion

ACCIDENTS involving elderly people in the Vale of Glamorgan could be avoided if a special care service was expanded, experts have said.

Concern at the lack of help for many elderly people in the Vale was expressed at a seminar to celebrate 20 years of Care and Repair in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The service provides advice and help for elderly people in their homes.

Winnie Davies, of the Older Persons Strategy Forum in the Vale, said: “We were quite concerned that this service was only available to senior owner occupiers.

“Senior citizens from housing associations, council tenants and private rented tenants find it difficult to get small repairs done at reasonable rates, and by trustworthy trades people.

“Too many senior citizens have no-one to fix a shelf, a curtain rail or locks and bolts. We end up standing on a chair or steps trying to do these tasks ourselves – some of us fall, and end up in hospital with broken limbs and sometimes more serious injuries.”

She added: “Some of these accidents could be prevented by housing officials working with the National Assembly to find a solution that will make it possible for all pensioners across the Vale of Glamorgan to access this valuable service.”