”I warn you not to fall ill. I warn you not to get old…”

A 90-year-old war veteran has been banned from visiting his sick wife in her nursing home after he fell over and bumped into a nurse.

Dennis Woodward, who suffers from arthritis, said he lost his footing and reached out to a passing female member of staff for help as he toppled over.

Doesn’t that happen often in these sort of homes, inhabited and visited as they are by the frail and elderly?

But she accused him of trying to assault her and Sandhurst-trained Mr Woodward - who served as a captain in the Second World War - was escorted from the premises while staff called the police.

Now he has been warned not to return to the 52-bedroom nursing home to visit his 88-year-old wife, Hiltje, and told the police will be called again if his car is seen nearby.

Huh…?!?

Describing what happened at the Canford Chase Nursing Home in Poole, Dorset, he said: 'When I got up out of the chair, my knee gave way. It often does. I stumbled forward and held my arms out for somebody to help me, but a carer brushed me aside.

'I fell and landed on a chair - I must have knocked into her as I was going down. The next thing I knew I was being ordered to leave. I signed out in the visitors book and they showed me out the front door.'

That doesn’t seem to add up to me. If you consider this man a threat who has attacked a member of staff, would you really insist that he signed himself out first?

Mr Woodward said yesterday: 'I miss her desperately and I'm very worried about her all alone in there. She isn't really aware of what's going on around her any more, but she recognises me. She'll give me a little wave when I walk in the room and will kiss me back when I kiss her.'

He added: 'I've called up to ask when I can see Hiltje again, but they won't return my calls.

'Hiltje was a nurse when she was younger and she would think the care she is getting now is absolutely atrocious. She was promised privacy and dignity but instead she's got this.'

And ‘this’ is what is no doubt waiting for us all.

The superficial attractions of euthanasia become a little clearer now, don’t they?

A spokesman for Colten Care, which runs the home, said: 'There was an incident involving a visitor at the home, as a result of which the police were called and a member of staff had to go to hospital.

'To ensure the safety of our residents and staff, the visitor has been informed not to enter the home at this time.'

The statement also seemed to indicate that the incident had caused worries about a resident in their care.

The home's manager last night refused to clarify who this was, and the home declined to explain why a member of staff had been taken to hospital.

Curiouser and curiouser…