I have just watched your programme and was really saddened by the care home closures that you reported on. I work as a care assistant in a care home in the south of England and feel that it is awful that the elderly are made to move at that age. Fortunately it's never happened where I work but I still felt very upset about this. It's disgusting that they are made to move at that age, it would be so frightening for them as they have put their trust in others and developed a friendship with other residents and staff just for them to have it taken away. I feel for the staff that have had to go through the moving of such lovely people. I am 23 and i think the elderly are such wonderful people. I just hope that sometime soon the government will see that this is wrong and do something about it -but to be honest I don't see that happening.
Lauren Woodwards , UK

We will all be old one day and in fact as time goes on there will be more and more of us. As usual nobody is looking to the future Glenys Hilton, UK

Estate Agents would have us believe that the whole situation of housing prices is one of supply and demand. One only needs to look abroad at the unreasonable prices of property to realise that we in Britain are being ripped off. The UK property market is driven by greed. The only winners in times of boom or crash are the estate agents driven by percentage cuts of selling prices. A house like anything diminishes as it gets older. It is one of a very few commodities whose value actually rises as this happens. This is due to the nature of our market. Consumers buy through estate agents who promise sellers the highest price the market will sustain. This situation takes place all the way up the ladder. So when a seller sells and makes profit on the investment and then buys again further up the ladder they inevitably lose like everyone else. It will feel like they have won and this is the great illusion. People strive for the highest price to narrow the margin between what they have and what is being asked for their new purchase. Exactly the same predicament of those below. Who sets this price? You or I? No. The estate agents.
Steve Cunio, United Kingdom

It isn't just the elderly who are affected by care home closures - it also affects adults with learning disabilities. The reluctance on the part of social services departments to meet the needs of adults with learning difficulties means that they are forced into placements in homes which deny them the opprtunity to fulfil thier potential. My son is being forced into a home which cannot provide the education, vocational training and work experience he needs. If the right help and support is provided my son could manage in sheltered employment. Instead he will be unable to communicate with staff or other residents as no-one has training in the communication system he uses. Instead of continuing the excellent progress he has made over the years, he will just regress. When the placement inevitably breaks down, he will be forced to move to another unsuitable placement. Whilst care home closures are obviously devastating for the elderley, they are even more so for people with learning difficulties!
J Bateman, UK

I would just like to say how brilliant your show is even though I am only 11! I started watching it on Monday 14th 2003 and found the care home subject very moving indeed.
Charlotte Pike, UK

Following on from your story on care homes closing, my husband and I returned from holidays on 27 April to find the care home my father-in-law was in was closing. He was very upset and became very depressed when residents started moving out. He contracted a bug but nothing more serious than he had had previously - he seemed to have lost the will to fight. Although the closure was reprieved, he never got over the depression and worry of a pending move and died on 16 June, less than two months after hearing of the closure. We are convinced that the stress he went through and the depression he suffered at the thought of moving was at the root of his lack of fight. I know what that doctor on your programme meant when he said his patient had lost the will to live - I am sure my father-in-law did, too. Obviously nothing can be proved but I am sure if he hadn't had the stress he would have fought off the bug he contracted, as he had done previously.
Susan Harber, England

Both my grandparents died in a home. If we had had to move either of them it would've been devastating for all concerned. Maybe Archer's new job could be donating some of his wealth to a charity to prevent this happening!
Rebecca, Brighton, England

This time last year I had to find alternative accommodation for my mother when the care home she was in sold out to developers. Luckily, I found another home the same distance from where I live and she has settled in very well although it now costs over �2,000 pounds a month to keep her there. In two more years all the proceeds from the sale of her house will have gone - something I find so unfair as my parents struggled all their lives to pay for and maintain their home. We need more government aid for care homes and we need it now! We will all be old one day and in fact as time goes on there will be more and more of us. As usual nobody is looking to the future.
Glenys Hilton, UK

The UK property market is driven by greed. The only winners in times of boom or crash are the estate agents driven by percentage cuts of selling prices Steve Cunio, United Kingdom

I was deeply moved by the section of your programme devoted to care home closures. It is something that is not far from my own heart. My grandmother, whom is 81 years of age and suffers from Alzhiemers, has suffered such trauma herself. My family were delighted when they found a lovely home for her in the village of Barrow upon Humber only three miles from my parents' home. Nan settled in well but within only four months was informed that she would have to move as the home was due to close. My Grandmother was devastated and so were my mother and her sisters. Again another home had to be sought - one was found although it was some distance from my mother's home (she doesn't drive) and did not seem quite as nice as the previous home. My grandmother's memory became rapidly more disturbed and many of the symptons of Alzhiemers that had become less frequent in the home in Barrow returned. She became disinterested and distant. Some months after her move here, the owner of the home increased the care charges and threatened my grandmother with eviction if she did not pay a further �20 a month. A small amount, but non the less the situation was not dealt with any care or emotion. My family have paid for the increase, though frankly the home is in poor repair and poorly staffed - so much so that my mother and aunt reguarly take her to their homes for weekends.It is my hope that what my beloved Nan has had to suffer will not be felt by any other pensioner though I can see that this is highly unlikely.
C Cobbe, Cardiff