YET another care home bites the dust, requiring 80 elderly people to find alternative accommodation at a time in their lives when they felt they would be looked after properly as long as that was required.

When is this dreadful farce going to be exposed for what it is? This indifferent government of ours knows full well how much it costs to provide care in all its forms but it goes on its merry way regardless of the consequences for a growing number of elderly people who require help, regardless of their relatives, regardless of the thousands of carers who have become their extended families, and regardless of the home-owners themselves, all of whom contribute to our national economy.

How does the Scottish Executive believe standards are going to improve when those who wish to see that they do are starved of funding? Do you know what a senior social worker admitted publicly in a meeting in Inverness two weeks ago? When confronted with the fact that his council charged (pounds) 600 per week for residents seeking a place in a council-run home, his answer was that the council had an obligation to cover its costs. In the same breath he had to admit that the same council paid private residential homes (pounds) 355 per week to provide precisely the same care package. What blatant hypocrisy.

The Scottish Executive are ultimately responsible for this iniquitous state of affairs. They have seen the recent Scottish Care/Cosla Cost of Care analysis, independently audited and accepted without demur, so they know the facts. However, they refused to give financial help. God knows, they can find funding for schemes they consider suit their political aspirations.

If appropriate funding is not available soon, every care home in Scotland will close and thousands of men and women will be cast aside, either on the grounds that their care cannot be afforded, or because the Scottish Executive believes them to be electorally insignificant.

Joe Campbell,

chief executive, Scottish Care,

54a Holmston Road, Ayr.