RISING costs and a decline in patient numbers will force Williton’s Mamsey House independent nursing home for the elderly to close on December 2, after 25 years, the owners announced this week.

After discussions on the possibility of a local authority rescue package stalled last week, the home’s 44 staff have been given notice and talks have begun with Somerset County Council to find new homes for the 28 frail and elderly residents.

The 33-bed nursing home, a former Williton rectory, which was opened by local doctors in 1994, serves a catchment area of Watchet and Williton to Bishops Lydeard and the Quantocks.

In January, the nursing home was rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission and met all standards inspected.

“The last three years have been very difficult and after 18 months of losses we simply can’t continue,” said James Halliday, a director Clinida Care, the local company which runs the home.

“Economic, staffing and recruitment pressures have meant that operating an independent nursing home in the Watchet-Williton area is just not a viable business.

“The continual social care crisis, nurse shortages and staff agency and recruitment costs have forced the decision to cease trading.”

He added: “Small nursing homes in this area just don’t have a future.

“Our location is a problem – people prefer to be in homes in Minehead or Taunton and staff are reluctant to move into this area with its lack of transport and other facilities.

“Having to recruit foreign staff has driven up costs. Six overseas nurses recruited in the past two years lasted an average of three months because they didn’t speak English and found it hard to settle in the area.”

Mr Halliday, who has run the home since 2014, said his major concern was finding new homes for patients – some had been at Mamsey House for many years.

“This will be an upsetting experience for them and we are doing all we can to make it as untraumatic as possible.

“We are working with the local authorities to make sure there is a smooth transition over the next few weeks.

“In the meantime, we are trying to keep daily routines normal while the gradual process of moving patients continues.”

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