"I'M just waiting for my dad to die". So says David Alexander, 49, of Tang Hall, York, who claims the condition of his father, Norman, has deteriorated since he was moved out of the Acomb Gables mental health unit in Oak Rise.

Mr Alexander led a campaign to keep the facility open because he feared the change could kill Norman, 83, who suffers from severe dementia and is now in Cherry Tree House, in Tang Hall.

The Selby and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) board voted unanimously to close Acomb Gables - despite opposition from families of patients being treated there.

Campaigners claimed the decision was made for purely financial reasons because the PCT is heavily in debt, but health bosses said they wanted to channel funds into an expanded home care service for mentally-ill people living in the community.

Mr Alexander, a father-of-five, praised the work of carers at Cherry Tree, in Fifth Avenue, but said the change in environment had badly affected Norman. He says he used to be able to pick things up, move around and feed himself, but can now do none of those things and is virtually chair-bound.

"Since moving to Cherry Tree he has been getting worse and worse," said Mr Alexander.

"He can't even feed himself now. I can't fault the place and the care he has been given but it's just the wrong place for him. All I can do is make sure he's comfortable and I'm just waiting for him to die.

"I even sleep with the phone next to my bed now because I've been waiting for the call to come. Acomb Gables is just sitting there boarded-up, doing nothing. My dad should never have been moved."

Mr Alexander said he would not let managers move him again as that would "finish him off".

A Trust spokesman said: "Due to the high importance of patient confidentially, it is not trust policy to discuss our service in relation to any individual.

"Patients are regularly reviewed to ensure they are provided with the level and type of care they require.

"The trust is experienced in ensuring patients are moved as sensitively as is possible, with the least disruption to their ongoing care needs, and that carers and families are kept fully informed."

Updated: 08:56 Saturday, April 01, 2006