Earlier this year my mother, Joyce, died after having cerebro-vascular dementia for over 20 years. My father fought for his country as a Desert Rat, and died young as a result of his wounds.

My parents worked all hours after the war believing in a new world. They saved for a mortgage to have something to leave their children after they had gone. My mother believed the NHS would take care of her from cradle to grave and never expected that the modest family home would be sold to pay for her care.

The saving grace was the amazing love and care mum received in King Charles Court nursing home and then later in Sheldon. Those lovely nurses gave mum a happy existence and nursed her with patience and skill and I cannot thank them enough.

Mr and Mrs Libby manage these homes and have to cope with so many pressures including being expected to pay staff and care for people who are funded by social services out of their own money while they wait for Cornwall Council to pay them up to six months in arrears. I deeply resent that my mother subsidised this system and passionately believe that all of it needs an overhaul.

The problem for any government is that they will be slated if they try; the Tories suffered at the ballot box for offering an attempt at fixing it, but believe me, something needs to be done. The rich can afford to pay more for their care, the poor get it paid, but my mother was an example of a working class family losing everything they worked for.

Jeannette Preston,

Founder of Pants Cancers,

8 Link Close,

Falmouth