RCTC Cabinet agrees amended option for future residential care provision
Cabinet has agreed to an amended option for future residential care provision – which will see nine Council-run care homes retained and modernised, including Garth Olwg (Church Village) and Ystradfechan (Treorchy).
At their virtual meeting on December 3, Cabinet Members considered an Officer report which outlined revised plans for the provision in Rhondda Cynon Taf, following an extensive consultation. The report proposed increasing the number of Council-run care homes to be retained to nine, and converting Dan y Mynydd Residential Care Home (Porth) into a 60-bed Extra Care facility.
The report also recommended securing an important future role for Bronllwyn Residential Care Home (Gelli), to meet modern accommodation needs – redeveloping the site to provide support for those with a learning disability.
Following consideration of the report and its recommendations on December 3, Cabinet Members have agreed to progress the following proposals:
- To retain nine Council-run care homes including Garth Olwg and Ystradfechan Residential Care Homes in Church Village and Treorchy – to be refocussed for complex needs (including dementia), residential reablement and respite care.
- To refocus Bronllwyn Residential Care Home in Gelli, developing the site to provide modern accommodation with care to support people with learning difficulties in adulthood and older age, to meet changes in need and demand.
- To create a new 60-unit Extra Care housing scheme in line with the Council’s strategy to modernise options for older people and deliver Extra Care housing as part of the redevelopment of the Dan y Mynydd facility. There are currently no residents within Bronllwyn and Dan y Mynydd Residential Homes.
- Developing further plans to comprehensively modernise the nine residential care homes proposed to be retained and to recommence permanent admissions to these homes immediately.
Following this decision, a series of further reports will be presented to future Cabinet meetings in the New Year. These will include setting out costed proposals for the Dan y Mynydd and Bronllwyn redevelopments, along with the modernisation of the nine Council-run care homes being retained.
Councillor Geraint Hopkins, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Adult Community Services, said: “On Thursday, Cabinet considered amended proposals for the future of residential care provision in Rhondda Cynon Taf, as set out in the report – along with the feedback from the most recent public consultation and the comments of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which met on December 1.
“Twice in 2019, residents were invited to have their say on the Council’s plans to modernise provision for older people, responding to changing expectations for residential care and increased demand both now and into the future. It is clear that doing nothing isn’t a viable option, which is why an initial preferred option was brought forward and consulted upon at the end of 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed consideration of the feedback we received and provided an opportunity for the proposal to be further developed.
“It was very clear from each consultation exercise the value place placed on the Council’s care homes by residents. This is testament to our dedicated and very hard-working staff, with new proposals brought forward by Officers also responding to this recognition. A key change in the proposals considered by Cabinet today includes the retention and future modernisation of nine care homes, retaining Garth Olwg in Church Village and Ystradfechan in Treorchy.
“The amended proposals also include utilising the Dan y Mynydd Care Home site as the location for a state-of-the-art Extra Care facility for Porth. This would add 60 Extra Care places towards the delivery of 300 places by 2025, which is at the heart of the Council’s plan to modernise its residential care provision – helping those residents who wish to live independently for longer.
“The final key change to the proposals is to redevelop Bronllwyn Care Home in Gelli, which will secure the site’s future as an important element of our residential care offer going forward. The provision will provide additional accommodation with specific care support for people with learning difficulties.
“Cabinet Members agreed to the recommendations of the Officer report presented to Thursday’s meeting, and therefore the amended proposals will be progressed by the Council. Specific elements of the proposals will be brought back before Cabinet for consideration in the New Year.”
