CEREDIGION County Council could have increased the number of people in the Bodlondeb care home by using it to provide much-needed respite care in the area, a campaigner has insisted.

Dai Thomas, one of the members of the Save Bodlondeb group which is battling against the proposed closure of the home, said there was a lack of respite care places in the county which was leading to some people having to access respite care miles away from Aberystwyth.

He said that could have been addressed if the council had carried out maintenance and renovation work on rooms in Bodlondeb that were not being used.

Mr Thomas said: “One person was told there was a place for her husband in Brecon, but she had no transport. The place he ended up was Bronglais. When he left Bronglais he was then taken to Tregaron.

“The system should know what is happening and provide some support for people during the night.

“If Bodlondeb had been open that night, the lady could have stayed there with her husband overnight. There are rooms there which can cater for a husband and wife.

“To say Bodlondeb’s rooms aren’t suitable, they aren’t telling the truth. There are 30 empty rooms in Bodlondeb when all they need are decoration.

“The rooms the council say are too small, we now know that doesn’t apply to Bodlondeb as otherwise half of the care homes in Wales would have to close.”

However, the county council said there was no shortage of provision in Ceredigion or the north of the county.

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