Sandys Rest Home should be closed if it is not up to standard, according to Shadow Health Minister Kim Young.

The Royal Gazette revealed this week that the run-down and crowded conditions at the home were raising concerns in the community that seniors were not receiving the care they deserved.

Now volunteers at the home say they are ready and willing to help out but have been stalled by lack of action by Government.

Volunteers Helen Gallagher and Susan Starling, contacted The Royal Gazette about their efforts to improve conditions at the home.

They said they had been working with administrator Flora Trott since the fall but they were informed that major improvements would have to wait for direction from the Ministry of Health and Family Services.

"During our meetings with the (Sandys Parish) council members it was made patently clear to us that as far as the major physical improvements were concerned we should wait for the Ministry's policy paper on the future and needs of Sandys Rest Home,'' Ms Gallagher wrote in a letter to the editor.

"We are now in May and as far as I am aware, no decision has been published as to the future of this rest home. Meanwhile the residents are no better off.'' Ms Young said yesterday that she had also heard complaints about the condition of the home, but did not take them up because she was told it was to be shut down. She took on claims made by Minister Nelson Bascome last week on a conference on the elderly that the Ministry will put more than $30 million toward extended care and parish rest homes. "I put it to the Minister, where is the money for Sandys Rest Home?'' she said.

Rest home volunteers anger at red tape Ms Young said that new standards for rest homes passed the legislature last year and they should be enforced. "You can't be putting people in conditions where they are not receiving quality care,'' she said. "All homes should reach a certain standard.'' She said that if Sandys is not up to standard, it should be shut down as St.

George's Rest Home was. This week Mr. Bascome said the Ministry was planning to address problems at Sandys Rest Home but that it would be in the context of reorganizing the network of senior care facilities in the west end. But he said the ministry must deal with problems in the east end -- where there is a shortage of facilities for the elderly -- before taking on Sandys and the west end.

Ms Gallagher said she had personally donated pillows, bedspreads, shower curtains, bath mats and kitchen curtains. "But We have not been able to put these out until we get the painting done and the windows in place,'' she wrote.

Ms Gallagher and Ms Starling said they are seeking additional help and have a wish list of additional items the rest home needs.

On the wish list for the home are a "much needed'' medicine trolley, doctor's weighing scales, dressing trolley, dressing trays and stainless steel bowls.

"There are many other items still required to bring Sandys Rest Home up to a decent living standard,'' she said.

Ms Starling told The Royal Gazette while "a little paint helps'' they cannot do the work that is ultimately the responsibility of Government.'' The two volunteers defended part-time administrator Flora Trott -- who would not grant The Royal Gazette an interview last week -- for her dedication and maintaining a positive attitude. "She is a compassionate, hard-working, loving woman who works in under-funded, under-equipped and dismal working conditions,'' wrote Ms. Gallagher.

Ms Starling said she, Ms. Gallagher and a third woman are already hard at work trying to make improvements but for some of the work "we really need men''.

Anyone interested in helping improve conditions at the Parish rest home for these seniors should contact either Ms Gallagher (238-8098) or Ms Starling (238-2084).

"We need community involvement to make a difference to the lives of these elderly citizens,'' Ms Gallagher said in her letter. "Let's give our seniors the dignity and respect they deserve''.