PEOPLE who have relatives in a home for elderly severely mentally infirm residents in Stone say they are appalled after receiving a letter asking if they would like their relatives to be moved to a home near Milton Keynes.
They then discovered just days later that the charity which runs the home knew nothing about it.
Jane Coonan, of Evans Road, Aylesbury, received a letter from the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust asking if she would like her elderly mother, wh
o is at the Chiltern View Brendoncare Home on St John's Drive, moved to a new purpose built care home in November.
Her mother is one of 17 patients whose care at the home is funded by the NHS.
Mrs Coonan said: "I said thanks very much but no thanks as the service provided by Brendoncare is excellent. Something was ticking at the back of my mind so I phoned Brendoncare and received a letter three days later."
The letter, from Brendoncare chief executive Ron Staker, states that the PCT letter was sent without his knowledge or consent and apologises for any anxiety caused.
It reads: "I can reassure you that any resident currently in Chiltern View and funded by the NHS will be able to remain at Chiltern View or opt to move to the new home in Milton Keynes when it opens in November."
The letter continues to say that, after negotiation with the Vale of Aylesbury PCT, Brendoncare has been unable to agree to a request to reduce the prices of beds for NHS patients by £110 a week and that in October, no new NHS admissions would be accepted in the home.
When The Bucks Herald alerted MP John Bercow, he said he would be writing to the nursing home and the primary care trust.
He said: "The overriding importance here is the patients. I am anxious that whatever dispute is resolved as quickly as possible in the interests of the patients."
A spokesman for the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust said there was no question of elderly residents being moved from one care home to another unless they and their families are happy with a new arrangement.
He said: "The PCT has a duty to balance all the healthcare needs of the population. This includes reviewing all care home places that we fund for the elderly to see how we can spend the money in the most effective way without compromising standards of care.
"There are no plans to reduce the overall provision of care home places for the elderly in Bucks."
This was first published in The Bucks Herald on September 6, 2006
