November 2008
incorporating The Number One magazine for the care sector
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Broken promises are denied By Dominic Musgrave A COUNCIL has hit back at claims it broke promises by moving a 101year-old out of a care home. Stockton Borough Council moved dementia sufferer Sarah Rutter to Rosedale care home from Parkview care home in Thornaby, where she had been the only patient since July. Lawyers for the Council told the High Court that it was costing the authority £7,400 to keep her in the home, and that she was being looked after by 19 care staff. They also said the cost of housing her at an alternative home was estimated to be £620 a week, and the council insisted a move would be in her best interests. “In ensuring a safe and sensitive transfer, and in line with the previous transfers, we arranged suitable transport with disabled access and two staff members to escort Mrs Rutter, with one of her daughters being involved in preparing her leaving Parkview and to be at Rosedale to welcome her on arrival,” said a council spokeswoman. The spokeswoman added that care staff from Parkview remained with Sarah for a period of time whilst she
settled into her new home. Some of her personal belongings were also taken in advance to Rosedale in order to ensure she had familiar things around her to help her to settle. Her family failed to overturn the decision to move her at the Court of Appeal, claiming the council had gone against what its lawyers had said in court about promising to discuss the move. Stockton council wanted to close the home and convert it into accommodation for the elderly. Earlier in the year Caring UK reported on the association set up by local residents which opposed the home’s closure. The Village Park Residents Association submitted a 3,000signature petition to save it, accusing the council of putting a deliberate bed block on the home to push through the closure. Some of the staff have been relocated to other care homes it the area, while others have taken early retirement and redundancy. Do you think Stockton council was right to shut Parkview care home? Let Dominic Musgrave know your thoughts by emailing dm@whpl.net or by ringing 01226 734407.
People have a say ...
A charity for older people with learning disabilities which has actor Hugh Grant as its patron has received almost £1.4m of investment from a Government thirdsector funding agency. Futurebuilders England has invested in the Fynvola Foundation to support it in the purchase and refurbishment of a property in Kent that will provide a range of specialised nursing and palliative care facilities in a secure environment. Hugh has also provided funding for the project, which is to be named in memory of his mother. The investment has also enabled the Foundation to purchase several pieces of specialist equipment including hoists, baths and automated beds. The Fynvola Foundation was formed out of the experiences and needs of the Family Investment, a group of homes and day centres in Kent founded by Jenny Gurney MBE.
PEOPLE in Kent have been given a rare opportunity to tell the Government what they think about care. Throughout October the County Council aimed to get as many people as possible involved in talking to the Government by gathering people’s thoughts and sending them on. Some of the big questions being asked were: What do you think about care, about the people who provide care, how care is provided, who pays for care and who should be responsible for care? “This was a very important chance for people to say what they thought about care,” said cabinet member for Kent Adult Social Services, Graham Gibbens. “It was a real opportunity to talk to the Government about how we see care being organised and paid for in the future.”