THESE will be anxious times for the elderly residents of Willow House, off Walmgate.

The council-run care home is the fifth to be targeted for closure in the city council’s ongoing shake-up of care provision.

Eight of the authority’s nine care homes will close in all. After plans for a ‘super care home’ were scrapped a few years ago on grounds of cost, the plan is for most elderly residents either to move into private care homes or into ‘extra care’ sheltered accommodation where they can live independently with support.

The 23 residents of Willow House - some of whom have already been moved following previous council care home closures - have been told the home is likely to close early next year.

We have nothing against either private care homes or sheltered accommodation with ‘extra care’, provided these are of good quality and enable elderly people to live with the security, comfort and dignity they deserve.

But worrying about the future is the very last thing a frail older person needs.

Michael Melvin, the council’s assistant director for adult social care, says he recognises that the consultation process can be upsetting for elderly residents. “We will be working closely with the residents... and their families, to make sure they have the support and advice they need,” he said.

We should hope so.

The council must handle this consultation quickly, efficiently, professionally and compassionately, and ensure throughout that Willow House residents and their families know that wherever they move in future, they will receive the care they deserve.