THE outraged family of a pensioner with dementia blasted a care home for kicking her out without good reason.

Dorothy Derbyshire spent weeks staying in hospital with nowhere else to go after having to leave The Orchards Care Home in Wroughton.

Her son Peter claims the care home’s manager told the 87-year-old she would have to swap to a smaller room in the attic or move out in a month’s time – but the family were not informed.

Peter added: “Mum didn’t remember them originally telling her about it so we found out through a social worker. Why wouldn’t they tell us?

“She had a lovely room and she felt settled for the first time since her husband died three years ago. It’s been really difficult for her, so when they told her to leave, she got upset, threatened suicide and ended up at GWH.

“The care home say they can’t cope with her and won’t have her back but they knew about her dementia and suicidal ideation when they agreed to take her on so surely they can’t use that as an excuse to get rid of her.

“Everyone in that care home is frail and has their own conditions and issues to deal with. Why is my mum any different?

“My mum was desperate to stay there so the manager then said we could have her original room if we paid more money, which I offered to do, but after that we didn’t hear back from them.

“The way she has been treated is disgusting, the doctors at the hospital said she should not have been moved out like this."

Peter lives 150 miles from Swindon so Dorothy’s grandaughter Kelly Nicholls in Haydon Wick has tried to find her a new home while looking after two children.

Kelly returned to the Orchards on two separate occasions to collect Dorothy’s belongings, but claims staff would not let her on either time and told her to come back when the manager was present.

She said: “It’s ridiculous, they wouldn’t let me because I wasn’t next of kin but I’m still family. My nan has the right to live out her final days in peace without all this unnecessary aggravation and upset.

“There have been a lot of dark days for her since grandad died but she finally found stability at this care home. It was very special to her. But they decided to suddenly take that peace of mind away from her.

“She mainly stayed in her room and didn’t cause any trouble, then she made a friend who was an absolute godsend.

“They brought each other clothes and jewellery but one day the manager banned her from visiting nan’s room with no warning.

Kelly claims that one staff member kept forgetting to give her her medicine.

"Nan paid for newspapers but they stopped bringing them to her. There were lots of little things like that.

“She’s been treated so badly. It’s a joke.

"She took up a hospital bed for weeks because she had nowhere to live.

“They’ve tried all sorts of petty excuses to kick her out. They said she’d been evicted from a previous care home that she’d actually left voluntarily. The hospital visit gave them a chance to stop her coming back.

“She has apologised for overreacting to the news that she could leave but they knew it would distress her.”

The manager of the Orchards Care Home would not comment on the situation.

Buckland Care operates the care home and several others around the UK but repeated attempts to contact the provider yielded no response.

After spending three weeks in hospital, Dorothy has now moved into a new facility in Chiseldon, Seahorses Care Home.

Her belongings have been retrieved by Peter.