Relatives anxious as Llanelli care home’s future in balance

THE fate of an “economically unviable” Llanelli residential care home at risk of closure won’t be decided until March, council bosses have said.

Carmarthenshire Council social care chief Bruce McLernon told a packed meeting of concerned relatives of residents of St Paul’s that the authority was “looking at a number of options” for the 20-bed home for the elderly.

Mr McLernon admitted the recession has meant a review of the way the authority cares for the elderly.

A 10-year plan was laid out in 2003, but the director told the meeting at the Ann Street home: “We are in an economic downturn and the public sector seems to be bearing the brunt of that. We are not going to be able to deliver all that we wanted to deliver over the next few years.”

The meeting was told that the options to be considered were to close the home, turn it into sheltered accommodation flats or to expand it.

Mr McLernon was at pains to point out that a decision on the home’s future had yet to be taken.

“This is a preliminary to the consultation process and is about the courtesy of letting people know and no decision has been taken,” he said.

Eric Lewis, whose mother is a resident in the home, said he hoped it would be kept open.

“When they talk about decisions and finances, I hope they remember that at the heart of this decision there are 15 real people who consider this their home and are very settled here,” he said.

“My mother hasn’t got a home of her own to go back to now.