Drumhaw campaigner moves out

Rodney Edwards • Published 17 Sep 2010 09:00 0 Comments

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THE battle to remain in Drumhaw Residential Home was lost yesterday for one of its oldest residents.

90-year-old Bob Barnett bowed in to pressure and moved to Gortacharn Care Home nearby following weeks of upheaval.

It’s understood SIX more pensioners are to also leave the Lisnaskea complex in the next week.

Mr. Barnett’s decision to move from his “final home” comes amid claims that several elderly residents were asked by the Western Trust to go to alternative accommodation, such as the Gortacharn Care Home “sooner rather than later”. Allegations the Trust have strenuously denied.

The private home is earmarked to “facilitate” the residents of Drumhaw when it eventually closes but “not until then”, say the residents.

The pensioners, particularly Mr. Barnett have put on a fierce fight in recent weeks, publicly criticising the Western Trust for the way in which the entire situation has been handled. Mr. Barnett told The Impartial Reporter last month that he was “killed with depression” as a result of the ongoing ordeal.

“I would wake up at about three o’clock in the morning and not sleep, I am constantly thinking about it. Thinking what I’m going to say, what I’m going to do and how I can stand up for the old folk here. I’ve went round most of the pensioners here and I’ve asked them if they are prepared to back me and they have said they will. We are going to fight this. We won’t let them throw us out of Drumhaw. I have worked hard all my life. I served my country in the war and this is the thanks I’m getting from my country. It’s a downright disgrace but I will fight it to the very end,” he said.

But now for Mr. Barnett and many others, the battle is over.

Yesterday afternoon the 90-year-old packed away his possessions, including photographs of his “beloved wife” Edith, who died five years ago.

Sounding tired and upset, he told this newspaper: “That’s it. I’ve all packed up now, ready for off. I’ve my clothes and my photos packed away.”

His pictures, including one of his wedding day adorned the walls of his little room, where he sat and watched the birds out the window, read the paper and ate fish and chips. It was his little world and one he’ll miss: “I will miss it, surely,” remarked Mr. Barnett.

When asked if he really wanted to leave the home, the pensioner said: “No, I do not indeed. Of course I don’t. I’m sick of the whole carry on; I’ve depression because of this. I would not have moved at all but I don’t want to lose a bed in Gortacharn,” he said.

Sources say elderly residents who are “still worried” that they’ll have “nowhere to go” when Drumhaw eventually closes will “most likely” follow Mr. Barnett’s lead and in no time the home will be empty.

“There’s another six in the pipeline to go. In a week or two we will have just fix or six residents left here. Bob is very depressed. His pride is hurt, he feels humiliated and let down. The other residents now have a sense of urgency and want to go in case they are left without a bed in another home. But we have just heard that a number of people have been left with no suitable beds in the locality. They’ll now have to either go on a waiting list or alternative accommodations in Enniskillen or Brookeborough. The mood here is very sombre,” said our source.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 16 Sep 10

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