Bristol City Council may put care home closures back on the agenda
HUNDREDS of people who thought their relatives' care homes had been given a reprieve by the city council now find their future is in doubt again.
Plans to close Bristol's remaining residential homes as part of an overhaul of social care services in the city were first unveiled in 2008 by the council's then Labour-run cabinet.
They were put on hold last October by the Lib Dems, more than a year after they took charge from Labour.
But now the council is set to look again at the closures as it prepares a new round of spending cuts.
The councillor in charge of the authority's health and social care department said less money would be spent on residential and nursing care and more on helping people to stay on in their own homes.
Cabinet member Jon Rogers also said the reason the closure plan had been halted was the slide in the property market, which slashed the amount of money the authority expected to make from selling off the sites of the homes.
There are 11 care homes and a resource centre run by Bristol City Council. In September there were 1,075 people in residential care and 668 in nursing home care in the city. Health and social care is the council's largest department with a £145-million budget for the current financial year to provide services to about 8,500 people and an average of 3,000 referrals a month.
The council says it needs to transform services over the next three years and will have to revisit the proposals to close council-run elderly people's homes and replace them with fewer residential sites, dementia units and resource centres.
Residential care costs the authority about £300 more a week than paying for support for people to carry on living at home.
Dr Rogers insisted that any changes made to the services would be about making them better for those affected, while also becoming more efficient.
He said: "People want to stay in their own homes or in a home that is better suited to their needs.
"The reason we paused (the closure programme) was because of the property market. There is no decision to close anything but we are very aware that what we are currently doing may not be the best way."
Among the proposals to modernise the care service and make it sustainable is a move to encourage the establishment of more "extra-care housing", where elderly people can live independently but with access to support when needed.
There are currently ten extra-care housing schemes in Bristol, with another due to open in June. The city council is working with the NHS to offer services so that people do not need to spend long periods of time in hospital or residential care.
It is also looking to create a specialist dementia service for people to use for short periods of time rather than being admitted to hospital.
Dr Rogers said the council wanted to have a discussion with the people of Bristol about health and social care.
"We want the best possible social care services in Bristol, to bring them up to a standard where they are the best in the country for our older and disabled residents," he said. "It is important to stress that people's needs will still be met, in fact we have a statutory obligation to do so. These plans are about changing the way the council delivers these services to create a flexible, modern social care system, against a backdrop of budget savings.
"We want to help people live independent lives for as long as possible and to deliver services in the community to meet their individual needs. So we need to be doing much more to increase our preventative services, encourage extra care housing, develop community based re-ablement and dementia services."
Dr Rogers said anyone affected would be involved in discussions about the most suitable support for them.
But one campaigner has warned that the moves will worry care home residents.
Jean Sallabank, left, of Henbury, was caught up in previous plans to close Brentry House, where her mother was living at the time, prior to moving into a home with nursing care. The 64-year-old said: "This is an awful way of treating the elderly who fought for our liberty and freedom.
"People feel safer going to council-run homes because of their duty of care rather than going somewhere that is about people making money."
The proposals are due to be discussed at the council's health and social care scrutiny committee tomorrow and at the cabinet meeting on November 24. Further work is due to be carried out on them before they are considered by the cabinet again in March.
16 Comments
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by Alpin
Wednesday, November 16 2011, 1:35PM
“i can tell you what happens in some other european countries. elderly people buy in a live in carer who spends 24/7 with the eldery person meeting their basic needs. Unfortunately this arrangment generates its own problems. The carer's first language is not the same as the older person. cover for the carer whilst they go on holiday can be dodgy. and like all other walks of life , the carer turns out to be a lazy mare, does the minimum, is mildy abussive and sullen but there is not meaninigful system to check up on live in careers. because of board and foodi s included; pay for career turns out to be £300 a week.”
by roly12345
Wednesday, November 16 2011, 11:52AM
“I believe the cost of 24/7 care at home is well over £2000 a week and therefore not a cost effective option compared to a care home, so I guess the council would like to focus on those who need a little amount of care while keeping the most severe cases in a home.
Problem is, if the council introduces this policy on the pretext of providing choice, then they will loose the game as the severely incapacitated may demand the same right to home care at a massive cost to the tax payer.
BCC do you have the first idea of what you are about to embark on?
For a small fee I would be willing to advise the council on its money saving ventures, but I would point out my advice will save them money without putting lives at risk, which appears to go against the grain, if past BCC measures are anything to go by.
As a taster my first bit of advice is HAND YOUR NOTICE IN AND GO BACK TO SELLING DODGY MORTGAGES.”
by EllieM2010
Wednesday, November 16 2011, 10:49AM
“terrible”
by Morrissey9
Wednesday, November 16 2011, 9:15AM
“I think people comparing care homes to prisons have a very warped tabloid view of how wonderfully opulent prisons apparently are. They aren't.”
by frank1958
Wednesday, November 16 2011, 7:06AM
“@ Alpin, care in their own home might be if they are lucky a twenty minute visit a day not much can be done in that time, then the person is left on their own, they may have a personal alarm in case they fall but these are unreliable, people have been found dead in their homes where they have laid for a number of days.”
by Alpin
Tuesday, November 15 2011, 11:30PM
“@sash J and @bristol 1978
in a way you are both right.
i think you get different care homes providing very different services.
i know of elderly being got out of bed from 5pm. fed sandwiches and soup nearly every evening. living in smelly rooms, definitely bathed once a week. being put to bed from 6pm onwards.. and at the other end residents get offered a choice of quality meals, choose when to get up, and get to eat what ever they fancy... the costs were recently debated. and the official view is that the community get more for their money if people live in their own home. people in their own home can get more personalised care. Also people hurt themselves whether home or in care.. Eg broken hips.. falling out of bed, slipping on floors..”
by Shas_J
Tuesday, November 15 2011, 8:02PM
“Both private and council homes actually! It's shameful how much they have to pay for their care yet homes, both private and council, are shut down when it is these people who have contributed their fair share of taxes throughout their lives while some get a much easier time in prison.”
by Bristol1978
Tuesday, November 15 2011, 5:18PM
“My point is i'm curious what care homes you've been in where the residents are fed cold food, shut in the dark after 8pm in rooms smaller than prison cells and only bathed once a week.
From my experience of care homes they tend to be run like small hotels with residents having rooms similar to bedsits that are furnished largely with their own possessions, communal areas for socialising that can be used whenever they feel like it, well cooked meals provided to meet their individual dietary needs, outings planned, parties organized and even in one home i know of a bar stocked with their own alcohol and yes these are council run homes btw.
Hardly the grim Dickensian picture you portray.”
by Shas_J
Tuesday, November 15 2011, 4:58PM
“@Bristol1978
Yes I have been inside several care homes visiting friends and relatives. Your point is? :)”
by Bristol_Tom
Tuesday, November 15 2011, 3:44PM
“Just think what the £78M, allegedly bring spent of the horrible Bristol Bus Fiasco, could do to protect the elderly in Bristol's care homes.
Tarring & Feathering would be too good a fate for the wickedly obsessive councillors who are continuing to throw money away in pursuit of their ideal of "squeezing the cars out of Bristol".
How can these wretches sleep at night when they hear what maybe going to happen to frail and vulnerable oldies as they let ridiculous sums be wasted on traffic-blocking bus stops that in a few years will have to be repaired at further cost.”