A former NHS practitioner and council leader has said she feels "disgusted" over the closure of a care facility's respite beds unit.
Teresa McNally, who was awarded an MBE in 2018, has spoken out about the impact of losing respite services at Ludgate House Resource Centre.
It was announced last month that the services will not reopen after being out of use since September.
Her main concern is the uncertainty the closure leaves the area's unpaid carers in. She said: "There's thousands of unpaid carers across Scotland and the sudden removal of services like these will have an impact on them.
"Planned respite care is great because you can plan ahead and take the time you need with a family member or whoever you are caring for. It's when there is an emergency situation where problems arise, and this is being withdrawn."
Ludgate House previously offered 10 respite beds, four residential and six for short-stay assessments, which had already been reduced before the full closure.
The Clackmannanshire and Stirling Integration Joint Board (IJB) made the decision to close the unit and introduce a new model of respite care.
Ms McNally said: "I feel disgusted. The decision makers from the top are forgetting why they are there.
"With my background as a health practitioner and a nurse, I'm very aware of the services that were being provided at Ludgate House. So this latest cut seems very cruel and not well thought out."
The suggested plan to relocate services to Stirling was also met with scrutiny. Clackmannanshire will be left with three respite beds, however the location and time these are available is unknown.
She said: "Services are supposed to be provided closer to home and they are suggesting that Stirling's not too far away.
"It is far away for people to travel if they're not very mobile. Now that's not closer to home and to me it's not meeting a need."
Plans to replace some respite care with in-home support have also faced criticism.
She said: "Care in the home is good, however there must be a choice and I think the choice element is being driven by the finances and I don't think that is the right way to look at it.
"For the unpaid carers as well, they feel much happier when their loved one is in a respite setting and being looked after 24/7 if they need to take a break."
She described the closure as an "easy target" that affects some of the most vulnerable people in the community.
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