Elderly residents living in a housing scheme in Carmarthenshire face being left without easy and quick access to care following a “ridiculous” decision which has left concerned relatives “devastated”. Cwm Aur is a residential housing complex made up of 40 one and two bedroom apartments in Llanybydder.
Built in 2010, the site was designed as an ‘extra care scheme’ which provides independent living but also 24/7 care and support for residents who are all over the age of 55. That care and support is provided by Pobl Group through a contract with Carmarthenshire Council, and is the only such scheme in north-east Carmarthenshire and east Ceredigion, with other similar residential complexes being further afield in places including Cardigan, Aberystwyth and Carmarthen. To get the latest Carmarthenshire stories sent directly to you for free, click here.
However, in January, residents received letters to their apartments informing them that Carmarthenshire Council was due to cancel its contract with Pobl Group from April. Residents and their dismayed relatives have said this will mean no care staff at the housing complex (there are now two carers each morning, two each afternoon and one overnight), a lack of meals provided by the on-site kitchen, and the end of social activities normally organised by staff. Furthermore, there is a genuine concern that a lack of carers on site will only increase pressure on the Welsh Ambulance Service and the NHS, both of which are already under immense strain.
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One relative of a 93-year-old resident living at Cwm Aur has called the situation - and the lack of information made public about it - “appalling”. Both her parents moved into the complex in April 2022 and she said the staff could not have done more to look after them both, and especially her father after her mother passed away in July last year.
“Mum and Dad were living independently but it was getting more and more difficult for them to look after each other,” said Yvonne Law. “I arranged visiting care, but this proved very problematic as the carers didn’t always come at the times that had been agreed in the care plan - the carers didn’t contact my parents if they were going to be late, and on several occasions they didn’t arrive. Cwm Aur was the answer - carers on site 24/7 so that when they needed help, it was there.
"The carers were fantastic, everything you would want, they were more like an extended family. They supported us as a family when Mum’s health took a downward spiral last summer and the staff have supported Dad through the difficult times after Mum’s death. They had been together for 70 years. The family is devastated about these changes and worried about the effect these changes will have on Dad.
“I’m really concerned that anybody who has a fall there is going to be on the floor all night. Carers won’t be able to come to them straight away. If someone has a fall in the night now a carer will be there within minutes. From April, a carer will have to come from Ammanford or Carmarthen or somewhere else - a good drive away. Then when they get there, they might assess them and decide they need an ambulance, and who knows how long that will take.”
Staff employed by Pobl Group at Cwm Aur have been issued with redundancy notices in light of the changes. Some of that workforce have secured other employment and Carmarthenshire Council has said it has provided Pobl Group with a list of internal job vacancies which staff may wish to consider. Even if staff find new employment - and Pobl Group, as a large employer, does have redeployment opportunities available for staff - Yvonne is concerned that, as well as the withdrawal of 24-hour care, the redundancies will mean there is “no continuity of care”. She also claimed that Carmarthenshire Council does not refer enough applicants to Cwm Aur, suspecting that the council and Pobl Group are blaming low occupancy at the site for the dramatic changes in the care provided. This has been confirmed by the council, which said "occupancy levels at Cwm Aur for extra care residents has remained very low for a number of years".
“The council is not talking to us,” added Yvonne. “They have not set foot inside the building to talk to residents. All we’ve seen is a letter from Pobl Group saying there will be changes to the care, but it did not say anything about taking away 24-hour care. It’s appalling that the council is making decisions about the future care of these mostly elderly and/or vulnerable people without any discussion with them. The residents are all really anxious about the current situation. It’s all very unsettling. The council is putting the lives of residents at risk by removing 24-hour care. The staff here are absolutely fantastic - they really do care for the residents and are on hand when they need help.”
Yvonne is not the only person fearing the worst for the future of Cwm Aur. Val, who has two brothers in law living at the site, said: “One of my brothers' in law has a permanent catheter. He is unable to do his catheter care due to poor dexterity. There have been problems with the catheter leaking and so with the 24-hour care on site the problem is dealt with as soon as possible. They are also both at risk of falling, like many of the residents, but at least with a carer on site there is a rapid response to their emergency button. We still don’t know how the new system will operate, but the response is bound to be much slower. The staff check the residents and know them well, and realise quickly if there is something not right.”
Another woman with grave concerns is Julia. She said: “Before Mum and Dad moved into Cwm Aur they had become very frail. Mum had broken her hip in 2021. We were unable to get community carers so we had to get a private one. Dad’s health started to deteriorate in February 2022 and he was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with heart failure. He spent two months in Bronglais Hospital and another month in Llandovery Hospital as we were unable to get a community care package. Dad came home. It became very stressful as they could not look after each other. Then someone told me about Cwm Aur - it was everything we wanted.
"They moved in July 2022. Everything was going good, the carers were absolutely fantastic and couldn’t do enough for them - at last they were safe. Sadly my father passed away in December 2022. This was such a stressful time for us as a family, but if it hadn’t been for the staff in Cwm Aur we would never have got through it. A carer sat with my mum while I stayed with my father until the end. Mum and Dad had been together for 70 years and now she is alone. She is still grieving and all this uncertainty at Cwm Aur has made her very anxious. I had to take her to the doctor this week because all this stress is affecting her. She is so frail and she needs this care, and as a family we are worried what this is going to do to her.”
Another concerned relative with an elderly mother currently residing at Cwm Aur said: “As a family we are still in total shock at the proposed changes. I recently received a telephone call from the social worker at Carmarthenshire Council to advise me that they are having ‘teething issues’ with some aspects of Mum’s care package. The proposed new care provider does not have staff that are trained to administer Warfarin. Without the family’s knowledge the council approached Mum’s GP surgery to enquire if there was an alternative medication that Mum could be given instead. They had also contacted the district nurses to request that they call daily to administer the Warfarin - this was obviously not possible.
"The other suggestions was that ‘the family call daily to administer’ - again this is not sustainable for me and my sister, and continuity of care, along with 24/7 support, was one of the main reasons we chose Cwm Aur for Mum. And then to add insult to injury, the social worker, who I understand is in an extremely difficult position, mentioned that her superiors had suggested that Mum may need to move to a care home. You can imagine how this left me feeling, but I politely answered - ‘that will not be happening’. I haven’t even mentioned this little nugget of information to Mum - she is so upset by all of this, I think that the mention of a care home would tip her over the edge. This is simply ridiculous. Care providers and the local authority have a duty of care to the individuals they support and medication administration is an essential task.”
Relatives are holding out hope that proposed changes to the care provided at Cwm Aur can be reversed before the beginning of April, but they say they have been left in the dark about what exactly will happen and when, accusing those in charge of decision-making of poor communication over what they perceive to be a cost-cutting exercise. Yvonne Law added: “You can’t let people move in and then pull the rug from under them. It comes across like they don’t care. They don’t care that they are putting these elderly residents at risk."
Pobl Group was asked to comment on the situation at Cwm Aur but explained that it was a matter for Carmarthenshire Council, who in turn explained that it has agreed, along with Pobl Group, that the care provided at Cwm Aur can be done so "in a more sustainable way". The decision was made following the recent consultation on the council's latest budget, and as a result care will no longer be provided by Pobl Group as an organisation, but rather by a domiciliary service arranged by either the council or an external agency. The council has insisted that "the needs of all residents affected have been assessed by social work teams, and we are in the process of putting alternative arrangements in place to deliver the care. The authority added that "no resident will be required to move and care will still be delivered in line with their assessed needs".
Councillor Jane Tremlett, cabinet member for health and social services at Carmarthenshire Council, said: "The council appreciates that this is a difficult and unsettling time for residents and staff of Cwm Aur. As with any change, transition is always difficult, and the council will work with residents, their families and Pobl Group to effectively manage that change. Whilst the change does mean a different model of care for the residents, the council is confident that there will be alternative providers in place to manage that care and no resident will be in a position of being left without care when the contract with Pobl comes to an end. The council will continue to work in partnership with Pobl to bring the situation to a successful resolution."
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