Dementia patients left with nowhere to go after council axes meal service

THE only opportunity many dementia patients at a Mansfield care home have for social interaction has been lost after a daily meal service was axed.

- LOUIS CORBETT

The meal service run by Mansfield District Council has been ended after “feedback” relayed to the council showed the number of people using it was dwindling.

About 20 patients with dementia live at Poppy Fields Care Home, many of whom are unable to get out by themselves.

The meal service provided from Monday to Friday provides them with some much-needed social interaction with other residents, as well as staff and others at the home.

The district council has said feedback provided by forms sent to service users had led to the decision to end the service.But Shannon Jones, who works for healthcare provider Fosse Healthcare, said dementia patients at Poppy Fields had not been provided with the forms and had not been given the opportunity to speak up for the scheme.