» Nurses needs
Phil Mills welcomes a lifeline for elderly nurses on the brink of losing their homes
Pam Hanney
There’s light at the end of the tunnel for retired nurses who only nine months ago feared their cottages might have to be sold and they would have to find new homes.
A charity read of their plight and has now offered to take on the running of John Howard Cottages in Roedean Road, Brighton, thereby allowing the 20 ex-nurses to stay put and live out their lives in peace.
Senior executives from Careways Trust, a charity which runs homes for the elderly, met with residents and said rents will have to rise to pay for urgent repairs but he stressed their only purpose was to maintain the status quo and run the homes as they are.
Many of the nurses will make formal replies to the proposal within the next week but some have already given a cautious welcome. Pam Hanney, 79 and a nurse for 35 years, said: “This seems the best and frankly the only option left open. Rejecting it will throw us back into uncertainty.“
The Royal College of Nurses, trustees of the homes’ charity, which owns the cottages, told residents last November how it was running out of money to maintain the homes and, at the last resort, might have to sell them off and help tenants find new homes. MPs expressed concern and almost 400 people signed a petition demanding the RCN find an alternative solution and keep the nurses in their homes.
Pam in her nursing days
Janet Davies, the RCN’s director of nursing, admitted during the latest meeting: “We handled this very badly,“ but stressed, “our first priority is to keep you in your homes”. She said the Careways proposal was now the best solution and if they, the RCN and the Charity Commission approved it, then the transfer could occur before Christmas.
Careways Trust, a Sussex-based registered charity, has been running homes for the elderly for 50 years. Its chairman Don Lonsdale told the John Howard residents: “We are aware of the traumatic time you have had and we want to steady the ship.“
Craig Harris, Careways’ chief executive, said: “We realise the unsettling period you have gone through – and if we take over then your wishes will be paramount and you will have a real say in how you wish the homes to be run.” He explained £50,000 would have to be borrowed by Careways in the first year for urgent repairs and rents would rise to pay for this, but only in line with what residents could expect to receive through state benefits.”
Residents told how betrayed, upset and insecure they felt and wanted guarantees they would not be forced to move. Mr Harris said no landlord could ever offer a ‘home for life‘ guarantee but said residents were protected by the 2004 Housing Act. He said Careways did not see the cottages as a way of making a fast profit. He said Careways first learned about the nurses’ plight by reading about it in a national newspaper, something the RCN had not wanted. Their representatives last November advised residents not to speak to the Press.
Mr Harris said he wanted to reassure the residents: “We are here because we think we can help. We have your well being at heart.”
