South Gloucestershire housing association pledges better home care

A housing association has been ordered to provide a better service for people living in sheltered homes.

Merlin Housing Society's financial bosses said its sheltered housing support service was not providing value for money.

They instigated a year-long review into the South Gloucestershire association's support for the 1,300 people living in its 51 sheltered units.

Teams of advisers have been introduced at eight regional hubs as a result of the review. They will travel to sheltered schemes to try to look after each resident's needs individually.

"The improved staff structure of eight hub teams will continue to deliver the support service but will also offer greater flexibility to meet the changing needs of residents," said Caroline McClean, head of supported housing.

"We will now be able to tailor our support to residents' individual needs and to provide better standards of care to residents, especially those who have high needs.

"Ultimately our goal is to provide a support service not just to residents of our sheltered schemes but also to other tenants and the wider community as well."

Merlin took ownership of South Gloucestershire Council's housing stock in February 2007 after a ballot of tenants in 2006.

It is a not-for-profit organisation run by a board of 15 – five residents, five councillors and five independent members – who unanimously backed the hub system.

They consulted people living in sheltered homes, Age Concern, the NHS, a senior citizens' forum, councillors and MPs.

Most of Merlin's sheltered units were built for elderly, but active, people because it was normal for older people to go into residential care at the time.

But the average age of those taking up a tenancy has increased from 60 to 73 in the last 10 years.

Merlin plans to spend £70 million in the next five years to modernise its houses.