Plans For Future Of Adult Social Care To Be Discussed

January 13, 2015 by Joanna Harrison

Plans for future of adult social care to be discussed

Tuesday 13th January 2015

A change in the way that care for older people is delivered in Southend-on-Sea could be on the cards if innovative proposals are approved by Cabinet next week (Thursday 20th January).

The new administration have been reviewing a previous decision taken in November 2013 to close Priory House and establish a dedicated dementia facility with the independent sector on the Delaware House site, saving £540,000 a year.

Between them, Priory House and Delaware House provide care for older people with dementia and high levels of physical frailty and were subject to a consultation process over their future in 2013 as part of the need to make extensive budget savings.

Cabinet members are being asked to accept a set of short and medium term measures that would see the required annual savings met but allow Priory House to remain open, whilst a medium term plan is developed.

This would involve feasibility work being carried out to look into the creation of an ‘adult social care campus’ on the current Priory site. This could comprise of a larger 60-bed specialist residential dementia care home, and a new day care centre to replace Viking Day Opportunities and cater for up to 45 people with learning difficulties. Extra Care housing to replace that currently provided at Priory House and Delaware House would also be developed. It is also being recommended that a local authority trading company (LATC) or charitable trust be set up to deliver future adult social care services across the Borough.

From April 2015 and in the short term, the required £540,000 savings would be made from an additional £150,000 of income from self-funding and other funded clients, and £100,000 by expanding a current arrangement with Southend CCG which provides them with 6 ‘step-down’ beds to improve hospital discharge arrangements. A review of staffing arrangements once a final decision has been made will also take place. Subject to consultation, day services at Priory House will also stop from July 2015 and be re-provided elsewhere with no loss in the quality of service, saving £117,000 a year. £167,000 will be taken from reserves in 2015/16 whilst the medium term proposals are developed, with a further £100,000 needed to carry out consultation and investigate and studies to move the plans forward. In another exciting move, an apprenticeship programme is also being proposed.

Approximately £225,000 of capital investment will be needed to make Priory House usable for at least the next three years.

Cllr David Norman, Executive Councillor for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing, says: “I am delighted with the outcome of the review and these recommendations which I will be wholeheartedly recommending to my cabinet colleagues. Officers and I have been doing a lot of hard work with the families, users and staff to get to this position, a position that I think is both imaginative and ambitious, but also completely sensible and practical and will help to ensure that we provide the quality of adult social care that our residents deserve.

“It is absolutely vital that we have got to this position because the world has moved on rapidly since the original decision was taken in November 2013. At that time, there were 188 vacant beds within Southend. Today there are only 10. To be closing Priory House now would present us with major challenges and probably additional expense. However, we must do all of this with at least £540,000 a year less which means we must look at different ways of delivering services in the future and we have a real opportunity to become a leader in the way care is delivered through the potential development of an adult social care campus for the Borough. The proposals are exciting and I look forward to more work being taken forward.”