Woman Kept In Secure Unit Instead Of Care Home

An elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease has been kept for weeks in a securely-controlled unit used by the mentally ill, even though she has a care home place.

The daughter of Mary Lister, 73, says that a squeeze on council budgets has resulted in her mother being trapped in a mixed ward with disruptive patients while the care home she has picked for her has empty beds.

Once fiercely-independent, Mrs Lister was taken into hospital in Fife in July because of concerns for her safety.

The door of the unit is controlled so that patients cannot wander out and, her daughter Janice Wheelen says, the behaviour of men in the shared day room can be distressing.

Staff from West Park Care Home, in Leslie, Fife, have seen and assessed Mrs Lister and agreed to take her in. However, Ms Wheelen says Fife Council has repeatedly postponed funding the placement because of financial constraints.

She has been given to understand the council is funding only 10 new care packages a fortnight because of the pressure on the budget and she fears that her mother’s condition is deteriorating while she stays in hospital.

Helen Eadie and Claire Baker, MSPs for the region, said they have been approached by constituents with similar stories.They said their research has revealed 152 patients stuck in hospital in Fife despite being medically fit to leave and many of these cannot be discharged because they are waiting for the council to fund their care package.

The situation has emerged just two weeks after officials at Fife Council warned that they were planning cuts because of a much tighter budget settlement.

Their report said vulnerable pensioners and children faced “significant delays between assessment of need and service delivery” and stated: “Prioritisation may result in lower-priority cases experiencing significant waiting times and delays in receipt of service.”

The council has suggested it is only the first to put its head above the parapet on this matter and with, a growing elderly population, other councils are likely to be feeling similar pressures.

Kenny Leinster, who is senior manager for older people’s services at Fife Council, said: “We can’t comment on individual cases but we need to be clear this is not a financial issue. We are placing people into care at the same rate as we did last year when we exceeded targets.”