A special Cumbria County Council scrutiny group has urged Cumbria Primary Care Trust and the county council's own Children's Services department to consider keeping St Bees' Seacroft children's respite centre open for the time being.
The Seacroft centre helps children with learning disabilities by providing day and overnight care to give respite time to families.
Both Seacroft at St Bees and the Orton Lea respite centre at Carlisle were being considered for closure by the PCT, which commissions the services provided there by Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust.
A joint group of the Cumbria Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and the county council's own Children and Young People's Scrutiny Panel formed in February to respond to a consultation on PCT and Children's Services proposals to provide more flexible respite arrangements and offer overnight respite breaks at other centres in Penrith and Ulverston instead.
The scrutiny panel raised strong concerns about plans to close Orton Lea this summer and to close Seacroft 12-months later.
Councillor Simon Leyton, lead member of the scrutiny group, said: "We shared the parents' anxiety that important decisions had apparently been taken before they were properly involved and we have managed to get some important assurances about the future of respite services for families in this position."
In relation to Seacroft, the PCT and Children's Services have agreed to recommend postponing plans to close the centre while they urgently work together to produce sustainable proposals for proper replacement of its services in West Cumbria. A decision is due at a PCT Board meeting on April 25th.
Mr Leyton said: "We would like this to be used as an important chance for the creation of a centre of excellence around which community and family based services can be developed for a much larger number of children."
In relation to Orton Lea, the critical point may have already passed for continuing to provide respite services for the 21 children who still attend the centre. But the PCT and Children's Services have assured the scrutiny panel that most of the families involved have already accepted alternative provision of respite services either at Huntley Avenue in Penrith, or elsewhere. Urgent consultations are continuing with the other families.
Members of the scrutiny task group have visited both Orton Lea and Seacroft and were impressed by the commitment and professionalism of the staff. The panel have stressed the important role those staff may play in developing new services and reminded the Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust of its responsibilities as an employer.
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