Gernon Manor Closure - Letter

With the writer's consent we publish a letter received concerning the potential closure of Gernon Manor Care Home.

If you wish to sign the petition against the proposal the lin is here.

For more information on DCC's proposals visit

www.derbyshire.gov.uk/care-home-review

"Dear Sir/Madam

As you are already aware Derbyshire County Council have proposed to close Gernon Manor Care Home in Bakewell, but we cannot roll over and accept this, we need to fight.

We have already lost Newholme Hospital and cannot afford to love this vital facility.

Gernon Manor is a care home, a place where people feel they are at home and not a lodger and they are not just cared for but the staff think of the residents as their family. The residents are well cared for, comfortable, safe and want for nothing and the staff go the extra mile to ensure this.

Some people have been residents for many years and do not have visitors or family so the staff are their family and friends. They feel safe and confident with the staff and trust them – to move them when they are elderly and frail is upsetting, life threatening and downright cruel!

Imagine if you had to move to somewhere which was not your choice and knew no one or the surroundings.

Not all families can afford private care home and obviously they want their loved ones to stay in the neighbourhood of their own home and not miles away. Not everyone has a car and with the council having already cut the bus services in this rural area they will find it difficult to visit their loved ones which is upsetting for everyone. Closing Gernon Manor will be stressful for residents, families and staff.

Bakewell is noted for having a higher than average older population and with the number of dementia cases growing daily we need MORE care homes not less. There are over 850,000 dementia cases in the UK which is set to rise to over one million next year.

Derbyshire County Council say there will be less need for this type of residential care in the future which doesn't make sense. Many people cannot live at home with their carers visiting three or four times a day and most cares find it difficult to spend the full allotted time with each person due to traffic and the nature of the job, never knowing what they will find when they arrive at someone's home. People need more than a ready meal putting in front of them they need companionship, a helping hand and someone they see as a true friend who they can rely on 24/7. All the carers at Gernon Manor provide these attributes and so much more and look at these vulnerable people as part of a big family to which they ALL belong.

Where are the residents to go?...Miles away knowing no one?

Where are the staff to go?...Other care homes travelling further?

The Derbyshire County Council logo is "Improving life for local people" to close Gernon Manor will be just the opposite.

PLEASE DO NOT CLOSE GERNON MANOR.