No one knows the true cost of closing down Sittingbourne's Frank Lloyd dementia unit better than Louise Evans.

Her terrified grandmother was the last woman to be evicted from the place she had called home for the past two years.

In an exclusive interview with KentOnline, Mrs Evans has given a chilling first-hand account of Britain's dementia crisis and how it affects normal families.

She said: "My nan, Joyce Ashbrooke, was a resident at the Frank Lloyd unit until three weeks ago.

"Since she was diagnosed with vascular dementia four years ago we have had a nightmare journey. Because of her dementia she can be extremely challenging and aggressive. No normal care setting would accept her.

"We were relived when Frank Lloyd accepted her two years ago after she was given 'notice' by her previous home.

"Her time at Frank Lloyd was happy and settled.

"The staff were amazing and even though she was extremely challenging they cared for in the same way they would their own family.

"My mum could leave her after each visit knowing she was being taken care of and was happy."

But in August 2018 the family was told health bosses wanted to close the unit.

Mrs Evans, 35, said: "As you can appreciate, this was shocking news and caused a tremendous amount of stress to my mum who was my nan's main carer until it was unsafe for her to remain at home.

"For the next 18 months our concerns were ignored.

"We were told in no uncertain terms that Frank Lloyd was closing on March 31 and that my nan would have to be moved, even if it meant moving her miles away or putting her in a secure unit.

"We were told we were being too fussy. I argued there was no way I would be prepared to move my nan into a care setting that had a poor CQC rating or a secure unit and that she deserved better."

The family was told staff would get the same training in other care homes but Mrs Evans said: "This clearly hasn’t happened as we have had a struggle to get anyone else to take her."

Mrs Ashbrooke was finally offered a space at Darland House in Medway but her granddaughter says staff there have since admitted they can't cope.

She said: "They call my mother to say they are struggling. That is not something we expect to hear from a challenging behaviour unit. We never experienced that with Frank Lloyd.

"Frank Lloyd was my nan's home. She was settled. Her behaviour was managed and the staff genuinely cared about the residents there.

"We have been pushed from pillar to post and are desperate for help. No one will listen to us or is prepared to step in.

"Even MP Gordon Henderson said he needed written consent from my grandmother to discuss her case. She can barely hold a cup to her mouth to drink, let alone a pen to write her name!*

"Closing Frank Lloyd is a complete travesty. So many people have been uprooted. In the past three weeks the health of my nan has deteriorated because of the upheaval.

"Her once happy home has gone. Now she’s scared and frightened all over again. Our struggle continues to get what quality time we have left with her.

"My mum took an overdose three years ago from all the stress. I know she’s close to breaking all over again. My nan is her world. This whole situation has destroyed her.

"If Frank Lloyd can be saved so another family doesn’t have to struggle like we have, that would be nothing short of a miracle.

"These silly decisions need to be stopped. Someone needs to look at the reality of how decisions like this affect people and not at how to balance the books."

Joyce Ashbrooke was born in Wrotham near Sevenoaks in 1943 and will be 77 this Saturday. She is one of eight children.

Her family moved to Pembury near Tunbridge Wells where she met her husband-to-be Douglas at school. The pair married in 1964, moved to Ashford, where Mrs Ashbrooke worked in the Rimmels factory, and ended up having three children, Colin, Christine and Martin.

Mr Ashbrooke opened a butchers shop in Hamstreet and his wife became a foster mother, looking after many children.

In 1990, the couple retired and moved to Birkenhead. After Mr Ashbrooke died from a heart attack in June, 1992, Mrs Ashbrooke returned to Ashford and lived on her own until she was diagnosed with vascular dementia in April 2016 and went to live with her daughter.

Her granddaughter Louise Evans, one of seven grandchildren, recalled: "Her dementia got so bad that she wasn’t safe to be left home alone.

"My mum was her main carer and had agency carers but on one occasion my nan managed to get up and go out before the carers arrived.

"She was missing for more than eight hours. We had the police looking for her. Thankfully she was found but she was suffering with hypothermia and covered in cuts and bruises.

"At this point we realised it was unsafe to keep her in her own home. As much as it went against what we wanted, we knew a care setting would be best for her."

Read more: Ex Strictly judge joins fight to save unit

Read more: Patient cared for 50 miles away

She was admitted to the William Harvey Hospital where she spent eight weeks waiting for a care home to take her and then a year being moved about.

Mrs Evans said: "We found her dosed up to keep her manageable and staff refusing to bath her because of her challenging behaviour. Mum had to go into the care home every day to wash her.

"Nan was often covered in bruises where staff had restrained her."

It wasn't until April 2017 she was offered a place at the Frank Lloyd Unit.

Mrs Evans said: "From the first day, we knew she was in the right place. The staff were amazing.

"They treated my nan like a person not a problem. They could deal with her challenging behaviour and she very quickly settled.

"She was happy, calm and relaxed for the first time in two years and it meant that my mum could go and see her and spend quality time with her without feeling like her carer.

"The care was amazing. Each bedroom had a personalised front door so it felt like their home.

"There were daily activities to keep the residents engaged. For the first time in months my nan was allowed her own belongings in her room.

"We have been ignored, lied to and fobbed off at every point..."

"The staff knew what would make her smile and laugh. They could calm her down and interact with her in a way that no one else had been able to do in any of the previous care homes.

"Her time in the Frank Lloyd Unit was the happiest she has been since she had to leave her own home.

"The day we found out it was closing was, for us, as bad as the day we heard she had been diagnosed.

"The following 18 months have been a real uphill struggle. We have been ignored, lied to and fobbed off at every point.

"My nan was looked at as no more than a name on a piece of paper.

"What she needed, and how she was cared for, was ignored. Decisions were made with no regards to her or the other 39 residents at the unit."

Kent county councillors at the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee have forced health bosses from NHS West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group to delay the closure.

Cllr John Wright (Con, Sittingbourne South) said: "It would be nice to see all members of the public along with discharge teams at hospitals told the news so this facility can be used as it was intended so they don't have to struggle to find places where trained staff can cope."

He added: "I am still waiting for the date when the chairman of the committee and our officers can visit the unit."

* MP Gordon Henderson said his staff had been trying to help but had been told by the clinical commissioning group they needed written permission from the patient or sight of proof of power of attorney.

To keep up-to-date with all the latest developments with your local hospitals and other health stories, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Sittingbourne