THE only nursing home in the upper dales area of Richmondshire is to close on Christmas Eve, with elderly residents being rehoused possibly as far away as Middlesbrough.

Senior staff at Thornton Lodge, at Thornton Rust, near Aysgarth, said problems recruiting staff were are the heart of the closure.

The news saddened and angered communities in Wensleydale and Swaledale and prompted calls for better provision for the frail and elderly in rural areas.

The home, opened eight years ago, officially closed on Monday after several months in receivership, but the 15 remaining residents have until Christmas Eve to move out.

The next nearest nursing home, at Leyburn, is full and some families fear their elderly relatives will have to move to Northallerton or even Middlesbrough for places.

Beverley Heslop, acting manager at Thornton Lodge, said staff and patients were saddened by the closure.

The problems stemmed from a difficulty in recruiting staff to an area with such high housing costs. The move towards elderly people continuing to live at home, with additional care support, had also played a part.

"We have struggled for quite a few months, and gone into receivership, and we just couldn't go on," she said. "It is disappointing but not totally unexpected."

The Rev Ann Chapman, vicar of Wensleydale, said the closure was a blow for the upper dales.

"Some of my parishioners are in Thornton Lodge. Many of them have lived in the dale all their lives, and it will be a big upheaval for them to move to a completely different area," she said.

"I am deeply concerned about what will happen in the future because there is now no nursing care for the elderly in the upper dales.

"With Thornton Lodge gone and people moving perhaps 35 miles away from their families, there is no opportunity to pop in when they are passing. People in the dale are very good at popping in to see each other."

She called on Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust to look at turning Thornton Lodge into a cottage hospital with beds for the elderly and an out-of-hours GP surgery.

Dr Jonathan Payne, a GP at Hawes surgery, said: "The Dales desperately needs something like Thornton Lodge and it is a great shame that this is being allowed to happen. I wonder whether the PCT and other organisations could have been more pro-active in keeping it open.

"It hits people hard because they are going to have to travel a long way at some cost to visit elderly relatives."

He backed Ms Chapman's idea of a cottage hospital for the dale, but doubted whether it would come to fruition.

Coun John Blackie, county councillor for the upper dales, said the decision was a huge loss to the area.

"It consigns people to perhaps a 70-mile round trip, possibly on a daily but certainly a weekly basis, to visit elderly relatives and friends," he said. "It is two hours' driving. In winter you can set off now knowing what the weather will be like when you return, and there is the cost to consider."

The move made proposals for an "extra care" housing complex for the elderly, with nursing care, at Bainbridge even more important, said Coun Blackie.

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