The care home Christmas crisis must be addressed and no doubt every effort will be made in the best interests of the elderly residents.
However, there is also a need to address the needs of those older people who don’t live in residential accommodation. There are many elderly people who suffer from being alone with minimum contact on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This problem is particularly acute over the festive season with reduced care services. It is at such a time that a community can show its real Christmas spirit and rally round to check on elderly and alone neighbours. It takes only a few minutes to say hello and check on an alone neighbour but that short visit may result in the avoidance of a tragedy.
Adam Newton,
DUP councillor, Titanic, Belfast
