Hospital axing row could soon be over

The case is being brought on behalf of four severely disabled patients - Lynne Evans, 40, Michael Shaw, 54, Joan James, 68, and Bernard McGuire, 61 - all of whom suffer from "profound learning difficulties" and whose families want them to remain at the hospital.

At an earlier hearing, Lynne Evans' father John, 60, told the court his daughter was wheelchair-bound and unable to walk or communicate properly.

Her brain has never fully developed due to a birth defect and her outlook is described as "infantile".

Gwent Health Authority's closure plans involve placing residents in purpose-built NHS bungalows in locations across Gwent, housing four or five people in each and providing 24-hour nursing care.

Resettlement began in the early 1990s, but residents' families have argued that the plans are unrealistic when dealing with such acutely vulnerable people and that their choice has been taken away.

Betty Jones, 70, the sister of Joan James, said relocation would have a "devastating" effect on her sister, who has been at Llanfrechfa Grange for 40 years.

Residents' solicitor Simon Richardson said their greatest wish was to stay at Llanfrechfa Grange, one of only three long-stay hospitals for the learning disabled left in Wales.

It was earmarked for closure next year, but that has been postponed while the case is being heard.

Mr Justice Scott Baker was today due to hear the case from lawyers representing the four long-term severely learning disabled residents, who are appealing against Gwent Health Authority's plans to shut it and move the occupants into community care.

Last September, at another hearing, Mr Justice Forbes granted permission for the residents and their families to seek a judicial review of the health authority's decision. In February, the case was adjourned to enable attempts to be made to settle the dispute out of court.

But that failed and the case was listed for a full hearing today at the High Court in London.