Protests over plans to shut care home

Oct 15 2007 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

PROTESTS have been launched over the threat to a number of homes for vulnerable people in the North.

North Tyneside Council is proposing to close Meadway House in Forest Hall, Annitsford House in Annitsford and Dorset House in Wallsend in a multi-million pound project to provide better services for the vulnerable and elderly.

For some residents, this will be the second time they have had to find alternative care, while the 136 staff at the centres are facing an uncertain future.

Staff, residents and families are calling for a lobby of the council cabinet meeting being held tomorrow at Wallsend Town Hall.

Mick Stobbart, North Tyneside branch secretary of the public services union Unison said: “Staff are very upset and annoyed at these proposals and their implications for both jobs and services.

“These homes also provide valuable and much needed day services and respite to many other users.”

North Tyneside Council has said the homes no longer meet modern standards of care.

They were built in the early 1980s, have small rooms and shared bathrooms and toilets. If built now they would fail to meet standards set by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

Instead, the council plans to build two state-of-the-art extra care schemes, both with day centres, worth a total of £12m. It is proposed to reopen Dorset House as a rehabilitation and respite centre.

The axe will also fall on Longbenton Resource Centre, where people with physical or sensory disabilities meet for activities such as gardening and yoga.

The plans come under a £118m investment the council says will transform services and support for older and vulnerable people in North Tyneside.

A report to go before the cabinet seeks permission to modernise and improve Adult Social Care services.

It follows a series of engagement events where the authority discussed its long-term vision for the service with hundreds of people. Coun Janet Hunter, who is North Tyneside’s cabinet member in charge of adult services, said: “The aim is to deliver quality services providing independence and dignity.

“In the next three years the number of older people requiring social care support is set to increase and currently many of our services are not equipped to deal with this. Expectations from our customers are rising and we want to do better for them.

“That’s why we’re proposing some major investments in care and the delivery of better, more modern services.”

Cabinet members will be asked to approve a number of proposals on the future of the homes and give the go-ahead for a period of consultation.