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Swindon sheltered housing residents fear cut in wardens

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Swindon Borough Council runs 31 sheltered housing schemes in the town

People living in sheltered housing in Swindon have criticised a council decision to cut back on wardens.

Swindon Borough Council said it was introducing a "much more efficient and sustainable service" but residents said they felt it would make them less safe.

The town has 31 sheltered housing schemes housing about 1,300 people. They enable adults who need support to maintain more of their independence.

Wardens will be pooled across a number of sites and will respond on demand.

The council said the changes would make the system more consistent and cheaper to run and were being considered by Wiltshire Council for sites elsewhere in the county.

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Resident Francis Smith said having someone on site who knows you was invaluable and had probably saved his life

Francis Smith lives in sheltered housing in Charles Macpherson Gardens in Eldene.

He said: "The idea is so stupid, I feel disbelief and disappointment rather than anger.

"If you take Covid out of it, at the moment this is a safe, happy place and that comes from having the full-time warden on site.

"A couple of years ago I was ill, I was hallucinating.

"I sounded bright and cheerful on the phone but because the warden knew me she picked up something in my voice that a stranger wouldn't have done.

"She got me into a hospital. I was so dehydrated the consultant said I was close to arriving in a body bag.

"The importance of having a warden on site - it's the amount of risk not to just our physical health but our mental health."

Swindon Borough Council said it would never put residents in a "less safe position".

A spokesperson said: "All our residents have access to our Homeline service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when sheltered staff are not working in the building."

The Homeline service was used at weekends when staff were on leave or training, the council said adding: "We've never had a service whereby residential staff were on duty 24/7 although there is a perception this was the case."

It said it was committed to supporting the most vulnerable residents and would continue to provide a weekday call on request and had procedures in place to support vulnerable people at the weekend.