A COUNCILLOR whose mother died weeks after her local authority-run care home was forced to close has told fellow councillors: “Her death is on your conscience.”

John Shuttleworth’s mother Patricia was led sobbing from Newtown House, in Stanhope, County Durham, when it was closed by Durham County Council at the end of August.

The 83-year-old, who suffered from multiple system atrophy – a progressive neurological disorder – as well as dementia and depression, was moved 12 miles away to an independent care home in Billy Row, Crook.

She died on November 30. The Northern Echo understands there have been at least eight deaths since Durham County Council closed its last five remaining care homes to save money, including three elderly people who were cared for at Newtown House.

The council has expressed "much sadness" at Mrs Shuttleworth's death, but said it would not be appropriate to comment on her individual circumstances.

Lesley Jeavons, the council's head of adult care, added: "We would welcome the opportunity to discuss any concerns at all that her family may have.”

Councillors were jeered at a cabinet meeting in April when they agreed to axe Cheveley House, in Belmont, Feryemount, in Ferryhill, Grampian House, in Peterlee, Mendip House, in Chester-le-Street and Newtown House against the wishes of 80 per cent of the public who responded to a consultation. The homes are now all up for sale.

Cllr Shuttleworth, who as an independent represents Weardale, said: “My mother was very slowly going downhill, but once she moved to a new place which was alien to her, where she was in a room with people she did not know, she went rapidly downhill.

“She gave up the will to live and told me she wanted to die. I said she would not see Christmas and I was right.”

Mrs Shuttleworth, who lived in Gateshead before she required full-time care, was assessed in May by a consultant in elderly care working for County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust.

A copy of that report – seen by The Northern Echo – was passed to her GP. In it the consultant agrees that “there is a lot of experiential evidence that moving frail, elderly people particularly with cognitive impairment from their usual place of residence can be detrimental to their health”.

A review of Mrs Shuttleworth’s care in June by social workers at Gateshead Council concluded she was happy and settled at Newtown House, that she was being looked after well and benefitted from the social aspects it offered.

A subsequent medical assessment in August recommended she continue to receive 24 hour nursing care to “maintain and manage her psychological needs due to the impact of [the] change to the care home placement”.

Cllr Shuttleworth added: “I am bitter about my mother’s death and this should be on the council’s conscience.

“I have had 103 sympathy cards, but none from the council."

Campaigners said Newtown House, which previously received a glowing report from the Care Quality Commission, should have been treated as a special case by the council because of its rural location.

It was the focus of a sit-in protest by former headteacher and resident Don Robson and his family before it finally closed its doors.

The county council said it cost more than £22,000 per person per year to keep the residents in the homes, while £4m was required for improvements over the next ten years.

It also said the cost per resident in Newtown House was £440 a week above the market rate in the independent sector.