A PRIVATE Pembroke care home has been forced to end nursing care due to a recruitment crisis.

Bush House is home to 35 residents and has a dedicated unit for the elderly mental ill (EMI). But, like many care homes across Wales, has fallen victim to a dire shortage of nurses.

One of the directors, Jonathan Barnfield, told the Western Telegraph that it is a problem that has been brewing over the last few years.

He said: “Many years ago we were able to recruit nurses from the Philippines and India, but it has become increasingly difficult due to immigration rules being tightened up.

“European nurses want to work in the cities rather than rural areas like Pembrokeshire, while many would prefer to work for the NHS rather than the private sector.”

Mr Barnfield added: “We’ve been using local agencies for a while now, but due to lots of other care homes also using them, we have had to go further afield and in doing so the costs have increased.”

Bush House has now changed its registration to purely residential, which means seven residents who require EMI care must look for an alternative home.

“It’s a decision we’ve been forced to make,” said Mr Barnfield. “In order to provide a nursing service, you need nurses.

“It’s sad to be losing those residents; some have been here for many years. But we have to accept the fact that there will come a point where even the agencies can’t find the nurses.”

Among the affected residents is the mother of Denise Powell, a community staff nurse from Lamphey.

Denise’s mother has dementia and has been a resident at Bush House since 2011, having previously been in an NHS hospital for two years waiting for a bed.

Denise said: “We have been given a list of nursing homes with availability, but only five take EMI.

“It makes me feel terrible. Our elderly are being let down. They are vulnerable people who can’t fight for themselves.

“Mental illness could happen to any of us and we wouldn’t want to be treated like this.”

Denise has spoken to Hywel Dda Health Board and said she plans to bring her mother home, although she is unsure whether her care will be paid for.

Denise said the lack of nurses is scary as this situation is going to happen in other nursing homes.

“Nurses don’t want to work in the private sector, she said, “they want to work in the NHS because the standards are better.”

Her concerns have been echoed by the chairman of Care Forum Wales.

Just this week Mario Kreft warned that fundamental changes are needed to tackle the shortage of nurses in Wales.

He said: “The scarcity of medically trained staff is leading to nursing home closures which will push the NHS beyond breaking point.”

There are more than 20,000 beds in the independent social care sector in Wales and of those 11,500 beds are for people who need nursing care – and these beds are underpinning the ability of the NHS to function.

One of the main problems identified by Mr Kreft is the way in which social care is commissioned.

“The process should be about quality and securing value for money and not about paying the lowest possible price,” he said.

Mr Kreft warns that unless things change, we are ‘sleepwalking into a perfect storm of rising need, dwindling resources and a recruitment crisis.’