30th August 2011
Council chiefs will be asked to approve recommendations that will reshape local authority residential care home and day centre provision for older people in Leeds, at a meeting next week.
The recommendations will transform current day and residential services so that they focus more on delivering specialist care. This will make better use of the resources available to the council, utilise partnerships with the NHS and strengthen links with the independent sector.
The report also confirms that discussions with the NHS have developed into a firm proposal for the establishment of the city’s first integrated intermediate residential and nursing care centre. This is a significant step forward, which will help to integrate the work of adult social care services and the health service to promote faster recovery from illness, prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and premature entry into residential care, and help with timely discharge from hospital.
The report also provides details of the feedback gathered from the citywide consultation about the future of adult social care in Leeds, and the more detailed consultation with the people living in the six residential care homes and using the four day centres which were earmarked for possible closure earlier this year. The discussions that took place have provided information on how the proposals could affect customers and their families, and what their ongoing care needs are.
The report includes detailed information about the processes which will be in place to ensure the health and wellbeing of residents directly affected by the proposed changes and also to ensure no-one will be financially worse off if they have to move to an alternative home.
Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, executive board member with responsibility for adult health and social care said:
“This has been a really difficult process, and I fully accept that our customers have found some of our proposals upsetting. However, with reducing resources and more older people to take care of, we simply cannot continue to do things exactly the same way that they have always been done for any longer.
“Leeds City Council is committed to creating better lives for older people in the city, and this consultation has given us a fantastic opportunity to re-evaluate what we currently do, and look really closely at what else is happening in the city.
“Our final recommendations, if approved, will start us on the path of transforming housing, care and support services for older people so that they have access to a wider range of high quality options in the future.
“ We have listened carefully to concerns raised by local people in Otley, Morley and Rothwell, where there is no immediate local alternative residential care home. As a result, we have committed to keep their homes open, either until an alternative management operation is put in place, or there is a newly-built, local alternative up and running for people to move to.
“In the meantime I’d like to reassure those people living in homes which are directly affected by the changes that nothing will be done suddenly or unexpectedly.
“There will be a team of social workers and health professionals who will work with individuals and their families to make sure their individual circumstances are taken into account and their longer term needs are met. People’s health and wellbeing is our top priority.”
In brief, the recommendations in the report are:
Day centres
The following day centres should be recommissioned as specialist day units – Middlecross, Apna, Calverlands, Springfield, Laurel Bank, The Green, Frederick Hurdle, Wykebeck
The following should be closed – Spring Gardens, Firthlands, Rose Farm and Lincolnfields
Residential care homes
The following homes should be recommissioned or retained as specialist units - Middlecross, Richmond House, Siegen Manor, Harry Booth House, The Green.
The following should be closed - Westholme, Kirkland House, and Grange Court. Spring Gardens and Knowle Manor should also be closed, but only when new residential homes have been built in Otley and Morley respectively. Dolphin Manor could be transferred to a community interest company (subject to satisfactory business evaluation), or closed on completion of a newly built care home in Rothwell.
Eight remaining council-owned residential homes will be subject to further review.
Council-owned residential and day care units have high running and maintenance costs, and the capital funding needed to upgrade those requiring modernisation is not available. However, Leeds has a strong independent sector that continues to develop new homes with better specifications and high standards of care and accommodation. As the number of beds available in the city outweighs current demand, it makes sense to take out old, out-dated facilities and work closely with independent providers to continue to drive up standards in care and ensure that the market is stable.
A second report to executive board seeks approval to implement a revised temporary fee structure for publicly funded residents taking up places in Leeds homes from 1 October 2011.
Fees paid by Leeds City Council to independent residential and nursing care homes are higher than those paid by most comparable and all neighbouring local authorities. This is not a sustainable situation for the council as it struggles to make savings of £90million in response to the comprehensive spending review.
The executive board will be asked to approve the implementation of a revised, temporary fee structure for the placement of new residents from 1 October this year. This will act as a first step in bringing fees paid in Leeds into line with those of neighbouring authorities. It will also seek the go ahead to set up an advisory board made up of representatives from groups with an interest in delivering high quality care for older people. The board’s remit will be to agree a long term, sustainable fee framework for the future.
Councillor Yeadon said:“In light of the recent high profile financial problems experienced by Southern Cross, we are keen to work with independent providers in the city to ensure that we continue to have a stable residential care market in the city.
“We can’t afford to bring all of our homes up to modern standards, which is why we have had to make recommendations to close some of them. However, we are fortunate that the vast majority of care homes in Leeds are rated as good or excellent, so we are confident that older people in Leeds will still have access to high quality care.
“We now need to start conversations with independent providers in order to establish a fee and quality structure in Leeds that is fair and sustainable for everyone involved.”
Ends
Additional info
An enquiry by the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board last year agreed that people’s expectations around choice, quality and control over their residential care accommodation have increased significantly, and that the option to ‘do nothing’ to ensure that council services are fit for purpose for the future is not an option.
For media enquiries, please contact;
Claire Macklam, Leeds City Council press office (0113) 395 1578
Email: claire.macklam@leeds.gov.uk
