PLANS to shut care homes across Scotland and uproot vulnerable tenants have been branded “barbaric” by the families of those affected.

Almost 170 elderly men and women are being moved from their homes after one of Scotland’s biggest care providers announced it was closing its residential offerings.

Edinburgh-based Bield said financial pressures meant it had to “withdraw” from the care home market, but families insisted the move would have a devastating impact on those suffering from dementia and other conditions.

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And they said they felt ignored by the Scottish Government after repeatedly raising the issue with senior figures – only to receive “churned out”, dismissive responses.

It comes as Bield revealed it was in "advanced discussions" about handing over four care homes in Edinburgh, Fife and Jedburgh to new providers – leaving eight still facing closure.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said the situation should “act as a wake-up call” to properly fund care in Scotland.

He insisted the care sector was on the brink of collapse due to the SNP’s failure to fund councils properly, adding: “Last Saturday Labour MSPs attended the ‘Save Our Bield’ campaign group meeting in Glasgow.

“They heard families tell of the stress their frail, elderly relatives are under because they are about to be evicted from their specialist care home. These are people in their 70s, their 80s, even their 90s.”

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Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Mr Leonard raised the case of 94-year-old Nancy Sutherland, who has been a Bield tenant at Grants Bank in Dunfermline for 23 years and is now set to lose her home.

Due to memory problems, Mrs Sutherland asks her family every day where she will be moving to, Mr Leonard said – forcing her to “relive the trauma” and increasing her anxiety.

Her daughter Nancy Sutherland-Brown told The Herald she felt “very despondent” over the lack of support from the Scottish Government and Bield.

She said: “I have written to just about everybody I can think of writing to. I just feel like we are being kept in the dark and fed rubbish.

“This is just huge for my mum to be honest – huge for all of us. I just can’t quite get my head around how it can be allowed to happen.”

Laura Owens, a member of the Save Our Bield campaign, said the decision to close the homes was “barbaric”.

Her 87-year-old gran, Christina Wilson – a tenant at Bield’s Thornton Gardens home in Bonnybridge – suffers from dementia and Ms Owens fears being uprooted could have a devastating impact on her health.

She said: “I’m really concerned about what’s going to happen. Her confusion is going to increase. As soon as my gran gets anxious she stops eating.

“There was an elderly women who left last week kicking and screaming. She didn’t understand why she was being moved to another care home. This was a woman who, because of her cognitive impairment – her memory – believes she’s at fault.

“A lot of these people have dementia and other memory problems. They will probably never get their head around this."

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Ms Owens said campaigners had been trying to get Nicola Sturgeon to sit down with interested parties to discuss the issue since October.

And she said Justice Secretary Michael Matheson, her local MSP, had simply told her “there’s not a bottomless pit of money”.

She added: “I just feel like nobody is listening to us. It’s an absolute shambles."

In a letter to Mrs Sutherland-Brown, Bield said it was struggling under combined deficits of £350,000, and had been “working closely” with councils since last summer.

It said it would have been “very open” to any proposal from Fife Council to take over the care home, but was eventually left with “no alternative” but closure.

Responding to Mr Leonard at First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon said: "It is exactly because we realise how unsettling, indeed how traumatic this decision has been and will be for residents, their families and employees that the Scottish Government will continue to work to ensure we can do everything we can to guarantee continuity of care for these residents and make sure there is no compromise whatsoever in the quality of their care."

She said Health Secretary Shona Robison would be happy to meet with families.

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A Bield spokesman said it was not until "all avenues were exhausted" that the decision was taken to close, with tenants and their families set to be offered individual meetings in the near future.

He added: “Bield are currently in advanced discussions for four Care Homes in Edinburgh, Fife and Jedburgh and negotiations are progressing well. We are very hopeful that these homes will transfer to the new providers.

"Of the remaining eight care homes, the closures have been phased over two dates. Grants Bank in Dunfermline is in phase two scheduled for closure in July 2018.”