Re-think the closure of the day care centres for the elderly

Closing Cardiff’s “much-loved” day centres would lead to greater isolation for elderly people and heap more pressure on our struggling health service, campaigners have warned.

As part of sweeping cuts to public services, Cardiff Council has announced plans to close four day centres across the city in a bid to balance the books.

The authority says shutting centres in Llandaff North and Gabalfa, Ely, Llanrumney and Fairwater will save an estimated £800,000 in 2015/16 alone.

But concerned relatives claim closing the facilities would devastate hundreds of pensioners and leave them facing longer periods of loneliness.

They claim the physical and mental health of its most regular visitors could also deteriorate, putting the already over-stretched NHS at greater risk of collapse.

Health boards have already warned of a “silver tsunami” in the health service in Wales as more elderly people are admitted to hospital with a variety of complex medical conditions.