A KENDAL care home will be closing within the next six months due to severe staff shortages. 

Maudes Meadow is home to eleven residents and will be forced to close in March 2022.

This came shortly after another care home in Cumbria, Barrock Court in Low Hesket, was forced to close.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron wrote to the Health Secretary Sajid Javid urging him to act on staffing issues in social care.

Tim is yet to receive a response as of today.

He said: “We owe our carers so much for the incredible work they have done during the pandemic, caring for our loved ones in near impossible circumstances.

“But when you can earn more money from stacking shelves then you can for caring for people, and you’re struggling to afford to pay the bills and feed the kids, then it comes as no surprise that people are left with no option but to change jobs.

“These are people who we all clapped for, banged pans for and all the rest of it – if as a society we do truly value the work that they do then the Government must start paying them the money that they deserve.”

Kendal Mayor Douglas Rathbone has expressed his sympathies for the residents affected.

He said: “It is more than sad for the residents who are having to be moved as a result of the six-month closure of the home.

“Moving elderly residents of a care home is never easy for the people involved, as I’ve previously experienced with my own mother.

“It’s not surprising that there is a staffing problem in the sector as a whole with people moving to better paid roles, where there are fewer restrictions or not being able to return to the UK after COVID with post Brexit visa regulations.

“After all the work put in by care staff over the last 19 months and these current problems the government needs to sort out adult social care now – not in 2 years – with something that is sustainable.

“Council funding against actual cost has been salami-sliced for ages and a proper solution for funding, adequate pay and recruitment in the sector needs to be found by the government.”

Cllr Patricia Bell, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, at Cumbria County Council said: “Like all social care providers, we are currently finding it extremely difficult to recruit staff.

“The decision to temporarily close Maudes Meadow and relocate staff and residents is a consequence of that. We have not taken the decision lightly, but it is the right one to ensure the safety and well-being of the people we care for.

“There are a wide range of jobs available in social care around the county right now and I would really encourage people to find out more and consider applying for one of these roles, either with ourselves or any of the other social care providers in the county.”

The care home declined the opportunity to comment on the situation.