SIR: I was shocked and upset to learn that St John’s Moorside Care Home is considering closure (Chronicle, April 22, 29).

Moorside specialises in dementia care and has an excellent reputation in the Winchester area. My 91 year-old mother has been a resident of Moorside for the past three years and I fear for her future if she and other residents, who are in the same age group, have to be relocated, to somewhere that is unfamiliar to them.

It is a well-known fact that transferring vulnerable dementia patients to a different environment can have a detrimental effect on their well-being.

Also, the dedicated staff who have been caring for our loved ones are obviously going to be worried about their future employment. So many care homes seem to be closing, so where are our relatives expected to be transferred to? Moorside cares for quite severe dementia cases and is one of the best in my opinion. The home also meets the needs for people with limited financial resources where possible.

In the Hampshire Chronicle (April 22), one of the trustees of St John’s charity, Mr Bright, stated that “the charity’s finances are fundamentally sound”. So why is there need to close? Unless there is something that the relatives have not been informed about.

The residents of Moorside deserve more respect and not be expected to be moved from their home like pieces of furniture.

I feel strongly that there could be uproar should Moorside close and I would support any action that may be necessary to oppose the decision.

Jean Munford,

Orchard Road,

South Wonston

SIR: It was with great sadness that I read of the proposed closure of Moorside as a dementia care home in Winchester (Chronicle, April 22,29).

When it first opened I remember the huge relief it was to my neighbour, who was then able to visit her husband daily rather than struggling to look after him at home on her own.

With dementia on the increase as we all live longer, this closure will be a massive loss to Winchester, and particularly to those in need of the specialist care it was designed to provide. Almshouses are of course always useful, but Winchester is already well supplied with them, and specialist dementia care is surely needed more urgently.

Jane Harding

Back Street,

St Cross,

Winchester