Battle to keep Earlsmoor respite care home

A CAMPAIGN has been launched to save a Swansea respite care home. Around 50 people turned out for a packed meeting to discuss the future of Earlsmoor — a Brynmill-based respite centre.

The meeting heard from a number of centre users desperate for it to stay open.

The council-run facility primarily cares for elderly patients who have just left hospital, and acts as a respite care centre to provide carers with a break.

In June, the authority unveiled plans to shake up care services across the city, which said the future of Earlsmoor would be considered.

Wednesday’s meeting, arranged by trade union Unison, was called to allow concerned staff, carers and service users to have their say and agree on a direction for a campaign against the threatened closure.

Unison’s regional organiser Glyn Jones said: “We are absolutely determined it stays open.

“Swansea at the moment has around 48,000 people of pensionable age.

“Earslmoor represents the only resource of its type in Swansea. There are 17 beds for that size population.

“Develop new services by all means, but keep the things that are good.”

“I don’t think social care should be treated as a commodity. If you are in the private sector, the only reason they are doing it is for a business — to make money.”

People at the meeting were urged to collect signatures for petitions and write to the councillors who would decide Earlsmoor’s fate.

Mr Jones added: “We need to reach out to them and explain that this is a stupid and foolish decision.”

The meeting also heard from people who had used the service. One woman said her mother regularly used the service. She said: “She needs the individual care that she gets from the staff there. They are her extended family

“That is why I am so happy when I go on holiday, because I know she is looked after.”

A man told the meeting his 89-year-old mother-in-law used the centre.

He said: “We need these vital breaks. She looks forward to going in there.”

The meeting took volunteers to form a committee, and a public meeting is to be arranged.