Woman describes turmoil of uprooting husband from Wrexham care home amid north Wales closures

  • ITV Wales' Carole Green speaks to Jenny Creed whose husband was just settling into a care home when closures were announced leading to turmoil

A woman whose husband had to move care home has spoken of the "tears" and emotion as residents, staff and family at the former home found out it was shutting.

Jenny Creed, 76, started working as a nurse herself at care homes in 1993.

She described feeling like she had "suddenly jumped to the other side of the fence" after her husband suffered strokes and had to be moved into Gwastad Hall Care Home in Cefn-y-Bedd near Wrexham.

The home is one of two in north Wales that have recently closed, affecting around 91 residents and their families.

It has prompted care leaders to describe the situation as a "perfect storm" for the social care sector, which is already facing huge challenges including staff shortages.

Jenny says she has had sleepless nights worrying about the situation with her husband Credit: ITV Wales

Mrs Creed said the process of transitioning to "a strange sort of home situation that they're not used to" was stressful enough for her husband.

"It's quite difficult to find a place," she said.

"It's a very emotional, stressful time for relatives and for the patient if they don't really understand what's going on but can understand a little but they cannot go home. A tearful time."

That situation was made even more difficult when her husband had to be uprooted again and moved to another home after finally managing to settle down.

Ms Creed said her husband had grown familiar with staff and the man he would sit next to at Gwastad Hall.

She said: "He grew very fond of this gentleman who would ring the bell for him because he wasn't able to.

"And then suddenly being told that the home was closing, nobody had an inkling.

"The staff were all called in for a meeting and there were a lot of tears in that place that day and also amongst the residents as well - as they were slowly told as their relatives came into visit."

Mrs Creed said: "My husband, although he couldn't explain himself fully, wondered if perhaps the gentleman he'd been sitting next to could go 'together' - I got the word 'together' from him.

"And you knew that was going to be impossible. And that gentleman, they had to tell him as well.

"Last when I popped in to see them he still hadn't been allocated anywhere."

Jenny says her husband wanted to move to the same place as a friend he made in his old home but it sadly was not possible Credit: ITV Wales

Mrs Creed said she and her husband had been fortunate enough to have been allocated a place at Pendine Park Care Home in Wrexham, which she described as a "lovely home" with "very caring staff".

She added she is pleased it is not too far from where she lives, as that was a major worry - that he would be moved somewhere further afield due to a lack of spaces.

However, Mrs Creed, who currently works as a carer, described the turmoil of waiting for a space at a new care home.

"I was devastated when I was told the home was closing. You can't sleep, you can't think about anything else," she said.

"I was just beginning to settle knowing where he was, he was settling.

"He'd had five readmissions to hospital in those months but he was just beginning to settle and suddenly you've got to take on the whole process again.

"So very emotional you can't sleep, you're waking up early, you're worrying about them and I haven't even gone down the financial route yet...because that's a big worry for relatives as well."

She wants to see more financial help for care homes, which are dealing with rising costs.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "While the provision of residential and nursing care beds is a matter for local authorities and health boards, we provided significant extra funding to support the care home sector through the Covid pandemic.

"To help with current recruitment and retention of staff, we're investing £70m this year to ensure all social care workers continue to get paid at least the Real Living Wage.

"This winter has been extremely challenging for the NHS and Social Care, but as a result of early planning we have secured nearly 600 community beds and social care packages to help move people out of hospital and get care closer to home."

The Welsh Government also said it had secured 595 extra community beds this winter with 140 of those in the north Wales region.

This is the fourth care home to close in north Wales since Christmas Credit: ITV Wales

Gwastad Hall Care Home is not the only care home in north Wales to announce it is closing in recent months.

Morfa Newydd Care Home in Greenfield, Flintshire is also shutting its doors.

Both are private care homes, which have gone into administration, resulting in the combined loss of 91 beds.

It is understood that staff have been given four weeks' notice and that the owners have been working with Flintshire and Wrexham councils to find alternative accommodation for the residents.

It brings the total number of care homes closures in north Wales to four in less than six weeks.

Bay Court Care Home in Kinmel Bay with 16 beds and Trewythen Hall Care Home in Gresford with 28 beds have also shut.

According to social care champions Care Forum Wales, another un-named care home in north-east Wales is on the brink of shutting its doors.

If that closure goes ahead as expected, it will bring the total loss of beds to 163 since the New Year.

  • ITV Wales speaking to Mario Kreft, the chair of Care Forum Wales, who said the whole sector is suffering

Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales, said the sector was suffering because of a triple whammy of "irresponsibly low fees", dire staff shortages and bureaucratic red tape.

"We're in a crisis point, we're in a perfect storm," he said.

"It's a crisis we've never seen for social care recruitment and retention.

"We've got huge costs that everyone knows about and fees that are not fit for purpose."

"What we're really seeing now is the culmination of years of mismanagement and it's time they got a grip and paid the fees that are actually needed in Wales", Mario added.

"People are being displaced, homes under pressure - particularly in rural communities - and almost a conspiracy if you like to destabilise the sector and possibly for local government to start building their own provision.

"You have to wonder what is behind this because this is the very moment that we need these vital community resources to support our NHS and they're failing.

"These are statutory responsibilities and local government needs to step up to the plate and do what's right.

"We need to consult with providers; we're seeing already that some local authorities are admitting they're not consulting, they're putting fees out that are £10,000 less per person, per year than other parts of Wales.

"And you think 'Well how can that be?' I think the public need to know, is social care safe in the hands of local government?", he added.

A van is travelling across Gwynedd and Anglesey to try to recruit more carers Credit: ITV Wales

Speaking about the closure of Gwastad Hall Care Home, Chief Officer Social Care at Wrexham Council Alwyn Jones said: "The council and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board have been actively working with the home to ensure it is able to continue to function in the short term, and have spent significant time with residents and their families to aid them to secure alternative placements.

"The remaining residents will have moved by Friday 10th February and we are very appreciative of the support and cooperation from other providers within the sector to enable people to move safely and quickly.

"We recognise that this situation is extremely sad for those affected and are therefore doing all we can to manage the impact.

"With regards to the local care home market, we have some pockets of availability in Wrexham although capacity has overall reduced.

"On a medium-term basis, we will support providers who wish to expand capacity in Wrexham and consider any other steps that may be needed to increase capacity locally."

After the announced closure of Morfa Newydd Care Home in Greenfield, Flintshire's Chief Officer for Social Services, Neil Ayling, explained: "We have been informed by the care provider, MN Opco Limited, that they are closing the home and working towards a closure date of 27 February 2023.

"The council is working closely with our Health Board colleagues to arrange the safe transfer of individuals from Morfa Newydd Nursing Home to other appropriate care homes in the area who can meet the needs of individuals and their families."

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