VULNERABLE elderly people with mental illness and their carers will not cope if Charter House in Trowbridge closes, a staff member has warned.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said the hospital was an invaluable service for patients with challenging behaviour like Alzheimer's and there was no way such people could be looked after in their homes.

"There is an awful lot of feeling running through the place. People are worried about their jobs but are more worried about the patients and their carers," she said. "You can explain physical ill health to a patient but you just can't to patients with mental illness.

Nursing homes can't cope with them either. With more beds closing in hospitals they are already getting full. It is an impossible situation. "The trust say it is out for consultation but that is all they will say. It is absolute nonsense. We know they're going to close the hospital.

"The hospital is full at all times and importantly it gives carers the respite they need. Most of these patients are 75-85 and their carers are also elderly. Charter House gives respite to 16 carers a day and without that many just couldn't manage."

Charter House is not included in proposals for change in the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership's Mainstreaming Mental Health consultation document, which proposes there will be 13 beds for older adults in Salisbury, 42 at Green Lane Hospital, Devizes, and a further 25 beds integrated into local hospitals.