RESIDENTS, staff and relatives left a meeting with bosses of a Fenland care home under threat of closure “deeply dissatisfied by the responses to their questions.”

The claim was made by Labour’s Martin Field who attended the meeting at Kingswood Care Home, March, when owners Sanctuary Housing confirmed it would close in October.

Mr Field said that despite having had “the sword of Damocles hanging over them” the meeting had done little assuage fears.

Mr Field said it was ironic that Sanctuary had not decided the future of the site when “a roomful of people, many of whom were residents, showed that what was needed was a care home.”

After the meeting a spokesman for Sanctuary confirmed a principal reason for closure was “namely the size of the rooms and the fact that there are no en suite facilities to provide the privacy, dignity and independence residents deserve.

“These facts are unsustainable into the future.”

However Mr Field said many of the alternative Fenland care homes being suggested did not have en suite bathrooms and facilities were of a lesser standard.

“Many at the meeting were incredulous that their relatives were being forced from the place where they are happy to go somewhere else they are not familiar with because they should expect facilities that still don’t exist where they are being forced to go,” said Mr Field. Those at the meeting with Sanctuary “felt fobbed off and ignored and many said how pointless it had been” said Mr Field.

The consultation was “mere whitewash to cover the fact that cuts in council subsidies mean it will be more financially viable to close and build some facility that requires less care and running costs with some land spare to sell off to developers.”