A 92-YEAR-OLD grandmother is staying on a hospital ward for the terminally ill after losing her place at a residential home.

Edna Gilson, who until last month had been a resident of The Hamiltons home in Atherton, for more than 12 years, has been told she will not be able to return there after hospital treatment for a fractured vertebrae.

Mrs Gilson's daughter, Audrey Faulkner, of Wigan Road, Atherton, and grand-daughter Deborah Faulkner, say they were given the news after they lodged complaints about the home with the National Care Standards Commission.

The manager of The Hamiltons, Iris Heaton, said the home could no longer meet Mrs Gilson's care needs.

Mrs Heaton said: "We cannot offer her the level of care she needs because of the number of falls she was having. This course of action was taken to keep us within the guidelines of the National Care Standards Commission."

Mrs Gilson's daughter was told in a letter from the care home that her mother would not be able to return to The Hamiltons and her family are struggling to find her a place elsewhere.

Deborah said: "My grandmother is absolutely distraught. She's well aware of what's going on and cannot believe what's happening. She has effectively been made homeless.

"We were not given a month's notice by the home, we were told to clear out her room as quickly as possible. Now we're struggling to find another place for her, everywhere is full. This is tearing my mum and me apart.

"My grandmother told me she was an orphan from an early age, but she was never homeless -- not like now." The Faulkners complained to the National Care Standards Commission after falls by Mrs Gilson in December and January and their complaints were upheld.

The family said they became concerned when a doctor called on December 30 to treat her for a chest infection and staff did not tell the GP that she had fallen the previous day.

The family claims Edna eventually went to the Royal Bolton Hospital on January 8, where she was diagnosed with a fractured vertebrae. She currently remains at the hospital.

The family lodged a complaint with the National Care Standards Commission on January 16 because they believed she had been in severe pain.

On January 30, they formally complained to the NCSC when she was sent back to hospital on January 27 after another fall.

The family claims that the home had sent Edna to hospital in a "dirty" state.

Mrs Heaton said: "Our staff did tell the GP about Edna's fall on December 29, but Edna refused to go to hospital. We tried to persuade her to go, and so did her family, but she just didn't want to go. I eventually managed to persuade her to go to hospital on January 8.

"She did not leave the home in a dirty state on January 27. Edna had just fallen and the ambulancemen told us not to worry about what state she was in, the main concern was to get Edna into hospital."

In a written report to Mrs Faulkner, the NCSC said it had found that staff had not told the GP on December 30 about the fall and insufficient staff were employed at peak times to meet residents' needs.

The NCSC expressed concern about administration, recording and dispensing of medication and record keeping in general was seen to be poor.