Adults with special needs are set to be uprooted from their care home in Wiltshire, in what their families are calling an “abrupt upheaval” that they will not understand.

The individuals live at The Willows Care Home in Warminster but are due to be moved after managers Autonomy Care requested a funding uplift from Wiltshire Council.

Autonomy Care has said it would welcome “a reconsideration” whilst Wiltshire Council explained it would continue to support the residents.

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Darren Jones, another resident due to leave The Willows.Darren Jones, another resident due to leave The Willows. (Image: public contribution) Caroline Ham is concerned about the impact of the move on her 67-year-old brother, Jon Mitchell.

She said: “He has lived at The Willows for over 20 years.

“He is happy there and does not want to move.”

She added: “Imagine what it was like when I had to tell Jon Wiltshire Council wanted to move him. 

“Like a child, because that is how he sees things, through the eyes and mind of a child.

“He said why? What have I done wrong? I don’t want to move.

“I fully understand the deficit that Wiltshire Council is fighting across all areas, but is it right to tear someone’s life apart and take them away from everything and everyone they know?”

Donna Jones, mother to 29-year-old Darren, who is also set to move, has described the transition as “devastating” for him.

She said: “The thought of such an abrupt upheaval for Darren, especially during the festive season he loves so much, is heart-breaking.”

Ms Jones added: “Darren will be forced into a new placement, more than likely, away from the family who has worked so hard to be close to him.

“Darren does not have the mental capacity to understand why this is happening, but the emotional toll it will take on him—and on all of us—will be enormous.”

Cllr Jane Davies, cabinet member for adult social care said: “We continue to support the residents at The Willows and our allocated workers are calling and visiting regularly to support and talk through options available.

“We recognise that this is a difficult time for the residents and families involved and will continue to work with them to provide suitable alternative placements and appropriate transition plans.

“Wiltshire Council cannot comment on individual contractual arrangements, but in general terms our rates are competitive and regular meetings are held with all of our providers and where contractual arrangements are brought to an end we will focus on the residents.”

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An Autonomy Life spokesperson said: “We work very closely with families to try to ensure that placements can be maintained, but the reality is that longer term placements don’t receive cost increases in line with inflation and uplifts in the national minimum/living wage.

“The difficulty we face is that to provide high quality care, we must invest in the recruitment, training and retention of our staff. 

“Their support for people requires a high level of skill and, in this case, we have stretched our resources as far as they will possibly go before recognising that we can simply no longer make the sums work for the level of care that our service users require which, it should be noted, is agreed by their placing authority. 

“Terminating placements is an absolute last resort for us but when the funding deficit has grown over many years and sufficient uplifts are not forthcoming, and indeed reductions are proposed with no change to the required care plan, we have no choice but to take the hardest of decisions, which we recognise have a significant impact on people.

“We have done our utmost to negotiate a resolution to this issue over many months but to no avail and now have no choice but to regrettably serve notice on placements that we would very much prefer to keep.

“We are very sorry for this outcome and would welcome a reconsideration of the funding decisions taken in these cases.”