ELDERLEY Vale people suffering from dementia are to be left in a Worcester Residential home if Pershore Cottage Hospital moves into Heathlands.

The owners of the newly rebuilt Heathlands residential home, to be opened next month, have entered into negotiations with the South Worcestershire Health Trust for the transfer of Pershore hospital to the residential home's ground floor.

If all goes to plan Heart of England Homes is set to sideline the dementia suite for the new deal.

Pauline Hall from Anne Crescent in Evesham said: "My mother is an Alzheimer's patient currently being cared for at the Regent home in Worcester. She was moved there while the new Heathlands was being built, and the new dementia specialist unit was completed.

"We have been to meetings, seen plans and picked out a room and waited a year, only to be told 24 hours before health trust's proposals became public knowledge that her return to Heathlands was now impossible. They cannot accommodate the specialist unit that was planned for the dementia patients.

"All these dementia patients and their families have been badly let down by this unbelievable decision. They just don't deserve to be treated in this appalling manner."

Mrs Hall's mother 86-year-old Susan Padfield was a resident at Heathlands for about two years before she was transferred to the Worcester home.

Since then Mrs Hall and her sister Brenda Bindoff have had to take it turns once a fortnight to take their 82-year-old father Wilfred, who suffers from angina, to Worcester to visit their mother.

Now there is no hope in sight for a return to shorter journeys...

Spokesman for Heart of England Homes, Simon Brader said: "If the proposal goes ahead it does mean that we would be unable to have a dedicated site for dementia care at Heathlands. You cannot do that on a first floor. While we regret that it does cause some inconvenience for some relatives, overall if the hospital proposals go ahead it would be beneficial to the whole local community."

Other changes on the cards for Pershore is the withdrawal of the community dental service and a 24-hour minor injuries unit.

The consultation period on the review of services to save £5.7m is to end on May 1 with decisions being announced at a board meeting on May 6.