YOUR leading article (July 22) about the loss of resident wardens at sheltered accommodation for the elderly made disturbing reading.

It seems to me that a change from a resident warden to a monthly rota of visiting wardens with a call-out system outside daytime hours makes an enormous difference to the level of care being provided.

West Devon Homes claim that calling a warden visit outside office hours is somehow an exceptional service and that resident wardens are unhappy about it. Yet the ex-warden quoted seemed to have a far more reasonable, practical attitude, accepting that being called out in the middle of the night is sometimes part of the job and compensated for at other times when their services are not needed.

It would be very convenient if the elderly were able to present any problems between the hours of nine to five on weekdays but is not, I suspect, likely to happen. It seems to me that it is exactly this sort of 24-hour emergency service that sheltered accommodation exists to provide.

The other reason West Devon Homes offers is budget cuts, but even this does not seem logical. It is difficult to see how cost savings will be made by having roving wardens using cars and petrol travelling between sites.

West Devon Homes have come up with a creative solution: to redesignate some of their accommodation for alternative age groups, mainly those aged 50 to 55.

Whilst it is true that a middle-aged clientele might be less demanding of services at evenings and weekends, I don?t know of any in this target market who are likely to be seeking any such service in the short-term!

How much better if West Devon Homes, instead of finding a new target market to fit the service they want to provide, provided the service that their elderly clients need and deserve, allowing them the peace of mind that they were looking for when they chose to go into a sheltered residence.

Carole Thompson

Grenville Park

Yelverton