More than 100 care homes closed in Wales in a year

Like other local authorities in Wales, Ceredigion is faced with a severe shortage of nursing beds for elderly people.

Three out of four of the private nursing homes in the county are for sale, and the shortage of local provision is forcing elderly and infirm people and their relatives to travel long distances.

The authority is considering setting up a new care home in Aberystwyth, but discovered on Tuesday that this would cost more than �1m a year to run.

The system isn't working and something has to be done to allow the elderly to have nursing care close to their families Andrew Clode, family member

The situation in Ceredigion reflects a general malaise across Wales with the Welsh Assembly Government pumping millions of pounds into care services for elderly people to try to reduce so-called bed blocking.

A report to Ceredigion council on Tuesday said there had been widespread concerns that people who are elderly and mentally infirm have had to travel considerable distances out of the county.

Andrew Clode of Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, near Aberystwyth is one of those who has spoken out against the situation.

In August 2003 his 90-year-old mother was due to be transferred from Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth to a nursing unit at Cardigan.

This would have meant a round trip of nearly 100 miles for Mr Clode.

In the end, his mother was transferred to a facility about 20 miles away, where she died in September.

"I wanted to my mother to stay in the Aberystwyth area but that wasn't possible," said Mr Clode.

"The system isn't working and something has to be done to allow the elderly to have nursing care close to their families."

Andrew Clode had been faced with a 100-mile round trip to visit his mother

In Ceredigion, there are, on average,15 people waiting in hospitals for a nursing home place of their choice.

Although the new facility at Aberystwyth would cost the council more, the authority is already paying for nursing care outside the county.

According to Maureen Wootton of Age Concern Ceredigion a more imaginative approach is needed for elderly health care in the future.

"Providing a mixture of sheltered accommodation and nursing care on one site is one option that should be considered," she said.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokeswoman said tackling bed blocking was a priority.

She added: "�4m has been allocated to local health boards specifically for this and in January we announced �19.5m for social services to increase capacity.

"There are a number of schemes across Wales which are good examples of how people can be cared for at home or in the community."