'My gran is heartbroken she's being ripped from her home'

DOZENS OF ELDERLY RESIDENTS - MANY RECEIVING END OF LIFE OR SPECIALIST DEMENTIA CARE - FACE MOVING AFTER FACILITY ANNOUNCED ITS CLOSURE

- CHARLOTTE HALL

FAMILIES are 'gutted' and 'heartbroken' aftercare facility bosses informed them their vulnerable relatives are 'losing their home! Distraught supporters of the 68 residents at Acorn Lodge in Failsworth, Oldham, were told last week the nursing home would be closing down following the owner's decision to sell the property.

Oldham Property Investments, who own Acorn, are selling the grounds to another care company Exemplar Health Care, who want to renovate the building into a specialist care unit for those suffering from brain injuries.

Residents were originally given ten weeks to leave the home, with the closure date set for July 31. But working together with the council, the owners have since promised to keep the home open for up to six months until all the residents have been moved out.

A spokesperson for the business said: "Funding for the health and social care system in recent years has not kept pace with the rate of inflation and the other costs of day-to-day living. These will, as is evidenced from the large number of other closures in the area, start to have an impact in the future. It was for this reason that we had made the difficult decision to sell the home, before any financial struggles started."

Many of those currently living in the home are receiving specialist care for dementia or end-of-life care. Families and friends are worried their loved one 'might not survive' a move to another home.

"We've no idea what to do," Linda Walsh, from Failsworth, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "My mum's been here for five years. She has dementia "When she went in she was talking, dancing, singing, but over the last years her dementia has declined.