Executive board to discuss future of Leeds care homes and day centres

Senior councillors in Leeds will discuss the future of the authority’s residential care homes and day centres at a meeting next week.

Members of the council’s executive board will be asked to consider the next steps for Middlecross care home in Armley, Seigen Manor in Morley and The Green in Seacroft along with their associated day centres.

They will also look at proposals for Springfield day centre in Beeston and Radcliffe Lane in Pudsey along with Wykebeck Day centre in east Leeds.

The meeting follows a comprehensive consultation, which has listened to the views of residents, their families, staff, carers and local elected members.

The proposed changes are aimed at giving the city’s older people a wider,  long term choice of accommodation and support in the context of the unprecedented budget pressures the council is facing.

At next Wednesday’s meeting (September 21), executive board members will be asked to approve:

- The decommissioning of the services provided at Middlecross, Siegen Manor and The Green residential care homes.

-The decommissioning of the services provided at Middlecross, Siegen Manor and The Green, Springfield and Radcliffe Lane day centres.

-The remodelling of Wykebeck Valley day centre to become a complex needs centre for the east of the city. This will include reinvestment of £0.111m of the planned savings to ensure Wykebeck can offer an enhanced service.

If approved, the proposals will also see the Siegen Manor site be ear-marked for the future development of extra care housing.

The current site of The Green will also be retained as a community asset for the potential development of intermediate care or recovery beds, subject to discussions and agreement with NHS commissioners.

A report to the executive board also recommends development of a new city-wide, integrated Leeds Recovery Service.

The service will include the current Assisted Living Leeds, the SkILs enablement service and a bed-based offer to support the wider Leeds Intermediate Care Strategy.

As agreed at a previous executive board meeting, services provided at Manorfield House residential home in Horsforth will also be decommissioned.

Councillor Rebecca Charlwood, Leeds City Council’s executive member for health, wellbeing and adults, said: “We know that any decisions over the future of older people’s care are incredibly sensitive and affect some of the most vulnerable people in our city and their families.

"That is why we have taken our time and listened to the views of all those who will be directly affected by these proposals, which has enabled us to work together with residents, staff and trade unions to come up with the best possible solution.

“The stark reality is that the council’s current financial position means we simply cannot afford to provide residential and day care in the same way we have in the past, and we must put robust, sustainable models in place now so that older people in Leeds will still have choice and control over the care and support they receive both now and in the future.

“The numbers of people moving into traditional residential care has been falling for several years, and older people we work with have told us they want to live in their own home and keep their independence for as long as they possibly can, so our focus has been on supporting them to have that option wherever we’re able to.

“Where that is not possible, we have also worked to ensure these proposals will mean older people still have access to high quality, local residential and day care.

“Above all, our primary goal is to ensure older people in Leeds can still depend on good quality care and we have spent considerable time and effort to make sure any changes reflect good practice and take into account cares and concerns from service users and others.”

Ahead of next week’s executive board meeting, letters have been sent to all affected residents, their families and carers, and staff, advising them of the recommendations.

Subject to executive board approval, residents, service users, their families and carers will be informed of the decision to close their service and next steps.

Residents, service users and their families will be fully supported through the closure process by an established assessment and transfer team, and where necessary independent advocates, who will help customers in making alternative arrangements for their care needs.

The council’s care guarantee will also ensure that each person will receive the same level of service and no resident will be worse off financially if they have to move.

ENDS

To read a full copy of the executive board report, please visit: http://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/documents/s149996/Better%20Lives%20Cover%20Report%20080916.pdf

For media enquiries, please contact:

Stuart Robinson

Communications Officer

Leeds City Council

Tel: 0113 224 3937

Email: stuart.robinson@leeds.gov.uk

www.leeds.gov.uk