From Anita Shepherd.
FURTHER to the article (JEP, 5 May) regarding my father’s experience in Beech Ward, I feel I need to write and clarify the situation following some of the responses I have received from members of the public.

We have never criticised members of staff at Beech Ward, we realise they are doing an extremely difficult job on a daily basis. I am however extremely critical of the Health Department who have invested the minimum possible in the care of patients with dementia for many years. Beech Ward is under staffed, which means that it is impossible for the staff working there to offer a consistent level of care.

On occasions we have visited Dad and found him wearing other people’s clothes which were either too small or too large, in spite of the fact he had enough clothes with him. Also, very often he comes home with most of his clothes missing, and it is only after we make a fuss that they are tracked down. My father is not incontinent, but he does not remember where the bathroom is at home, so he will not know where it is at Beech Ward, and if there are no staff around to show him that is when he has an accident. When my father first used to go in for respite the unit was fully staffed and the patients always had more than one member of staff with them.

If this was a children’s home there would be people screaming from the rooftops, and residents at HMP La Moye have had millions spent on them with a new building with en-suite facilities, because it is against their human rights to have to live in cramped cells shared with other inmates, but it is quite acceptable for patients with dementia to have four to a room and one bathroom between 17.

We are constantly warned that our aging population is going to be a problem in the coming years, and that this will mean paying higher taxes, but will this extra money go where it is needed? I doubt it. What we need is a purpose built home for dementia patients, where people who cannot afford private care can be looked after.

I have received a great deal of criticism for going public about my father’s experience, but I felt I had little option. I have had several calls from other people with appalling stories of the standard of care their elderly relatives have received in Beech Ward, some local residential homes and the Hospital, but they are too scared to make a fuss, therefore I feel someone has to speak up on their behalf and also to give a voice to the staff at Beech Ward who must find working conditions extremely difficult.