A NATIONAL support group which has offered to fight to save Lancashire's OAP homes today claimed closures cost lives.
RAGE National (Relatives Action Group for the Elderly) joined the fight to save 35 care homes from the chop during a public meeting held by Lancashire County Council in Accrington.
It claimed studies had shown that moving frail, vulnerable, elderly people from their care or nursing home increases their chances of dying sooner.
The Lancashire Care Association, which represents the county's private care home, reckons 25 per cent of people move from care home to care home soon after the initial move.
There are 1,250 beds in Lancashire County Council's care homes. If the same figures applied here, around 400 people would die.
Lancashire County Council has suggested keeping 13 homes open, although it has pledged to make sure all residents in county homes can stay in county homes if they want to.
It faces a £14.5million bill to keep all the homes open otherwise.
David Atkins, chairman of RAGE National, said: "Statistics show that the shock of being unsettled does kill people.
"These closures can be stopped if enough people stand up and fight against them."
Meanwhile, the number of people responding to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's campaign to halt the closures continues to grow.
More than 1,400 have sent in response forms to our campaign, which has been running for less than a fortnight.
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