"THOUSANDS" of elderly people in sheltered housing complexes face losing emergency cord services or help from their warden.
Notts County Council currently pays an average �7.80 a week for nearly 11,000 people to get these services. But it wants to cut �2.7m – more than half the budget it pays to the organisations who run sheltered homes.
It is still not clear how these groups will deal with the cut. They will be asked to come up with a plan to cope with the changes by September.
But even if they still choose to provide a warden or emergency cord service, many residents would end up having to pay – or lose out.
Toni Faulkner, 72, chairman of the tenants' association at Foxhill Court sheltered housing in Gedling, said: "I'm absolutely disgusted.
"If there are no wardens and no cord, who will do the call when people are ill? Anything from a minor fall to a heart attack could happen.
"People could die without anyone noticing."
Her mother, Winifred Norman, 99, who also lives at Foxhill Court, said she was outraged and appalled, adding: "I'm worried I'll need the service more in the future and that they'll take it away from us."
Gedling MP Vernon Coaker said: "This is an unacceptable cut in funding which will affect some of the most vulnerable individuals in our community.
"We were promised that the cuts would not affect front-line services, but this is clearly not the case.
"If these cuts go ahead, thousands of elderly people will lose out on their warden and emergency cord services."
Gedling Homes, which manages sheltered housing for 850 tenants, said its priority was to ensure the cuts had the least impact on the most vulnerable.
In most sheltered housing complexes, there is a warden who checks on residents during office hours.
The bedroom emergency cord is available to help residents who might have fallen or need help at other times.
Under the proposals, some elderly people would be able to get the money to pay for alarms and wardens individually through their own personal care budgets or the community care budget.
But others will have to find the money themselves.
The county council is making cuts of �2,762,007 to the older people's section of its Supporting People budget – a decrease of 57 per cent. It aims to replace the alarm and warden service with a "floating" warden service for up to 1,150 people at any one time, or a maximum of 3,500 a year.
Councillor Kevin Rostance, cabinet member for adult social care and health, said: "At the moment, anyone living in sheltered accommodation is provided with a warden service, whether they need it or not.
"In some cases they also get a personal alarm, whether they need one or not.
"We have to move to a situation where our limited resources are targeted at supporting vulnerable people, those in most need, rather than rolling out services to everyone, regardless of whether or not they actually need them.
"We're planning a new community outreach service for older people that will provide a range of practical advice and support to help older people maintain their independence.
"The service will also establish a network of volunteer befriending schemes to help tackle the social isolation experienced by some of our most vulnerable older people."
Consultations on the plans ended on March 28.
Housing organisations that provide sheltered accommodation will be asked by the end of this month to come up with a plan to deal with the changes, which must be produced by September.
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