Cabinet to consider more cuts to public services residential and day care
Cabinet will next week consider recommendations for the future delivery of residential and day care services. Members will consider the feedback received through the 12-week public consultation which took place earlier this year, and the recent considerations of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
A report to Cabinet on Wednesday, September 11, recommends which care homes should be retained and invested in by the Council, alongside the proposed investment in delivery of the provision of Extra Care. If agreed, the Council will initiate a further 12-week consultation this autumn.
Modernisation of Residential and Day Care
The preferred option consulted upon by the Council earlier this year was to retain and invest in key local authority care homes, focussed on complex care and respite. In response to the feedback received through the consultation and scrutiny process, the proposals to be considered by Cabinet recommend the Council continues to play a leading role in the delivery of residential care – thereby ensuring local access to in-house provision is available to all those who choose it throughout the County Borough.
For day care services, the preferred option consulted upon was a phased introduction of a new model of universal services and opportunities for older people – including the utilisation of Extra Care and Community Hubs. The report recommends Members agree to the development of a new day care services model.
Councillor Geraint Hopkins, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Community Services, said: “The Council’s extensive 12-week consultation provided the opportunity for the Council to listen to the views of residents, staff, carers and most importantly older people who are currently supported by these services.
“Key to the proposals is delivering better care facilities for a new generation of older people. We want to ensure we continue to provide the very best level of care and support, by taking proactive steps now to respond to future needs. Older people in Rhondda Cynon Taf are already choosing to access care in the independent sector, and proposals being presented by Officers next week to Cabinet seek to improve the offer available to them.
“The consultation evidences clear support for the Council to focus upon providing an improved range of services for those residents with more complex needs, and ensures it continues to play a leading role in the delivery of residential care in this County Borough.
“While these proposals do include plans to decommission some care homes, it is proposed the Council retains a significant number of local authority-led homes – and with this there is the opportunity for larger Extra Care facilities to be managed by the local authority’s experienced and valued workforce.
“The recommendations to be considered by Cabinet seek to provide residents with more choice in the future, across an improved range of options and specialisms – while also creating greater stability in the wider care sector. Importantly, officers consider that the proposals have the potential to maximise the opportunity for older generations to live independently for as long as possible into the future.
“The report makes clear that it is not possible for the Council to respond to future challenges or meet the needs and expectations of future older generations within our current residential arrangements. The shift in delivery of residential care would be supported by significant investment by the Council.
“Alongside the consultation, the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee has played an important role at key milestones, in scrutinising the process undertaken by the Council and the outcomes of the public consultation. My Cabinet colleagues and I will take full consideration of this feedback when considering the recommendations of Council Officers next week.”
The ongoing modernisation and transformation programme for Adult Services includes a £50m investment across Rhondda Cynon Taf, to build five brand new Extra Care facilities and increase the total number places to 300 across the County Borough. Construction is underway on two of these facilities – at the former Maesyffynnon Residential Care Home site in Aberaman, and the former Pontypridd Magistrates’ Court site in Graig.
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The report recommends the following residential care options are further consulted upon. These proposals would provide continued access locally to Council-led provision, alongside the delivery of extra-care:
CARE HOMES TO BE RETAINED
- Clydach Court Residential Care Home, Trealaw.
- Ferndale House Residential Care Home, Ferndale.
- Pentre House Residential Care Home, Pentre.
- Tegfan Residential Care Home, Trecynon.
- Troedyrhiw Residential Care Home, Mountain Ash.
- Cae Glas Residential Care Home, Hawthorn.
- Parc Newydd Residential Care Home, Talbot Green.
CARE HOMES PROPOSED TO BE DECOMMISSIONED
- Bronllwyn Residential Care Home, Gelli.
- Ystradfechan Residential Care Home, Treorchy.
- Dan y Mynydd Residential Care Home, Porth.
- Garth Olwg Residential Care Home, Church Village.
It is proposed that if any home(s) were decommissioned this would be done on a phased basis, dependent on individual circumstances. These include alternative accommodation becoming available or new extra-care facilities opening. The Extra Care developments will provide an additional 300 beds, while the de-commissioning of the four homes, if agreed, would remove around 96 registered beds.
