I WAS concerned and intrigued to read recent reports regarding the proposed changes to care home fees paid by Wirral Council.

Of special interest were the inane comments from Wirral Care Association who responded by comparing the residential care of the elderly to the cheapest, no-frills budget national hotel chains.

That just about sums up and very much explains the questionable and variable standard of care throughout Wirral.

If the service providers themselves see themselves as providers of no frills budget care home services, then very serious quality care problems are ahead and should come as no surprise.

Clearly as contracted service providers their personal financial priorities and commercial considerations are very much out of keeping with the genuinely compassionate and dedicated care priorities that the vulnerable residents and their families have in mind.

The Care Quality Commission has recently published damning and alarming national statistics regarding the poor care standards coupled with inadequate staffing levels within care homes.

From bitter personal experience I know this to be true and sadly is a deficiency increasingly obvious in some care homes within the Wirral area.

"Concerned of Wirral" by e-mail.