25/1/2010 - Exciting new plans put forward to improve residential care in Barrow : Cumbria County Council

A multi-million pound transformation of the way older people are cared for in Barrow-in-Furness is to be considered at a meeting of Cumbria County Council's Cabinet next week (February 2).

Under the proposals being considered by Cabinet, a new £7.2m 60-bed residential care home will be built in Barrow, extra care housing will be made available to provide a genuine high-quality alternative to traditional residential care, and people will receive more help to live independently in their own homes - as most older people want to do.

The package of measures being considered is the biggest milestone ever in the way older people are cared for in Barrow. If Cabinet agrees, then a formal three-month consultation on the proposed changes will begin on April 1st 2010.

It has not yet been decided where the new care home in Barrow will be built and when it will open - decisions like this cannot be made before the public have had their chance to have a say on the overarching proposals. But a look at the existing standard of the county council-run residential care homes in Barrow makes it clear that change needs to happen.

The buildings and layouts of the Cumbria Care homes at West Point, Rock Lea, George Basterfield and Bevan House are all no longer fit for purpose to provide for the needs of older people now entering residential care. Small room sizes, a lack of en-suite bathroom facilities and the growing dependency of older people needing specialist equipment makes it difficult for Cumbria Care's dedicated staff to provide the standard of care they'd like to.

Among the proposals being put to Cabinet is the recommendation to build a new state-of-the-art care home which will provide modern solutions for the care home resident of today, particularly those with dementia. This will be a replacement for the four care homes once the new home is built. The proposal recommends that Cumbria County Council continues to employ staff at the new home and the aim would be to provide the opportunity for staff working at the four existing care homes to transfer to the new care home or to other jobs within Cumbria Care. The other Cumbria Care run home in the area, Combe House on Walney Island, is still considered to be fit for purpose and would remain open under the proposals.

Residents and their families at the four homes have all already been contacted about the proposals, as have staff, their unions, and local councillors and stakeholders. They have all been reassured that no firm decision has been taken to close the homes and a full consultation process will be held. If a decision is taken to proceed, it will take several years to fully implement the proposals and the county council will develop plans to ensure the well being of all residents and manage the changes.

The proposals are in line with a new revised commissioning strategy for older people and their carers, which is also due to be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting. The strategy, which is a roadmap for the next 10 years of the council's approach to caring for older people, makes it clear that the main priority is to support people in their own homes while at the same time improving the quality of residential care and the availability of extra care housing in the county.

The revised commissioning strategy also reflects the wider roll-out of personal budgets in the county, where people can take greater control over how they manage their own package of care.

The strategy builds upon the 2007-2016 commissioning strategy and reflects changing policy, demand and the need for services. It highlights the need to commission fewer places in residential care in order to invest in services which support people more effectively at home. This reflects feedback received from older people in Cumbria and evidence provided by organisations such as the Department of Health.

As more community-based support services are developed, it is expected that demand for residential care in Cumbria will reduce significantly. Projections show that the need for local authority supported residential care places (both public and private) will fall from 2,400 (in 2009) to 1,650 in 2019 (740 fewer places).

It is estimated that 1,850 units of extra care housing (usually 1 or 2-bed flats)will be needed by 2019. This figure breaks down to 460 units of social housing and 1,390 units required in the private sector.

The change in the way older people are cared for is one of the biggest issues on the national agenda, but has particular resonance in Cumbria. From 2001 to 2009 there was a 10% increase in the number of over-65s living in Cumbria from 90,500 to 100,100, a significantly faster increase than across the region and England.

The number of people aged over 65 living in the county is predicted to grow a further 58% from now until 2029, with a 109% increase expected for the number of over-85s living in Cumbria. By 2028, more than one in three people living in Cumbria will be aged over 60. This projected increase is well above other areas in the country and is likely to drive increased demand for social care here. The work the county council is doing now is helping to lay the foundations for a new way of delivering care for a new population in the county.

Cllr Eddie Martin, Cumbria County Council's Cabinet member responsible for adult social care, said:

"There is no doubt that the staff of Cumbria Care are completely dedicated and provide high quality care for vulnerable people. But in Barrow we want to take those same people and allow them to operate in a care home fit for the 21st century and fit for the sort of people who enter residential care these days. We also want to invest in other types of care and give people what they tell us they want - the ability to live independently in their homes with the right support.

"Barrow has been identified as the area in Cumbria where the need for change is greatest - which is why we're proposing to make this substantial investment now. A look at changing demographics in Cumbria make it clear that we need to address this issue right round the county and look at the standard of care on offer and ensure we can offer the right support in the right way."