Care crisis putting lives of elderly in danger, says MP

Now Ms De Piero is demanding urgent by the government to address what she describes as “a growing social care crisis” in her constituency.

The Labour MP said many Ashfield residents were at their wits’ end, trying to secure appropriate care for elderly relatives. She cited the examples of a 101-year-old woman from Selston and a bed-bound, diabetic pensioner from Sutton, both of whom have been refused care-home places by Nottinghamshire County Council. But perhaps the most alarming case was that of 79-year-old Sheila Jones, who has dementia and heart failure, and suffers from seizures, meaning she cannot even carry out simple tasks, such as eating, dressing and going to the toilet, by herself.

Sheila has been staying at Kingfisher Court care home in Sutton, but now the council say she is fit to go back home, leaving her daughter, Pauline Bray, of Skegby, and her sister, Cath Drabble, worried about her future.

“Mum’s life is in danger if she is sent home,” said Pauline. “She can’t live by herself because she doesn’t remember how to. She needs 24/7 care and must be watched over. I can’t be there all the time.”

Ms De Piero has asked the council to think again after it budgeted an extra £14.8 million for social care this year. But most of all, she wants the government to produce a plan that halts its policy of cuts.

“I am being contacted by people every week who are desperate for help because their relatives are denied the care they need,” she said. “It is unacceptable that they are in this position, and it is disgraceful that the government has no long-term plan to address it. We need adequate funding so that our elderly are looked after properly.”