Assurances demanded over future of care homes

Campaigners fighting to keep two care homes open say they want assurances the homes would continue to offer specialist dementia care if they were privatised.

Kirklees Council had proposed shutting Castle Grange, in Huddersfield, and Claremont House, in Heckmondwike, and move residents to other homes as part of its efforts to make savings of £47m.

The council agreed in March to keep the homes open and look to transfer them to a private operator, however the families of residents said they have no guarantees services currently offered would continue.

The council said privatising the homes would offer "continuity for residents".

Gemma Blagbrough, whose mother Janet Blagbrough is a resident of Castle Grange, said: "We've got no guarantees that the home will be used for what it's used for now.

"We fought hard to highlight the excellence that these care homes have and the level of care and love that the staff show to the residents and their families. Without the staff we'd have been totally lost.

"We've no guarantee that costs won't go up and the standard of care won't go down."

Donna Mallinson, whose mother is a resident of Claremont House, said it was "hugely disappointing to be in this situation again".

Ms Mallinson said the council had promised to "collaborate with us and make both homes even better than they are now, but that's just not happened at all".

She said she understood the council had been talking with private sector providers with a view to selling the homes, "despite them repeatedly telling us that no interested parties had come forward".

"We'd like them to be honest and work with us, because we've lost trust with them now," she said.

Avalon Rawling, a member of the organising committee of Kirklees care home campaigners, said the group was "fighting for the future of dementia care in Kirklees".

"The fresh concern is that last time around we were fighting against closure, but this time round we're fighting to keep it public," she said.

"If it goes into private hands we don't know that it won't close."

She said privatisation of public services had been shown to be "disastrous" and said any decrease in the specialist care the homes offered would widen "inequality".

Ms Rawling said she feared families and residents could end up "footing higher bills just to get the care they need", with some people "priced out of the market".

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said a transfer of ownership to independent sector care providers would mean "both homes would remain open and offer continuity for residents through another experienced care provider employing the staff and running the homes".

An update on the future of the homes would be presented to cabinet next month "with a view to proceeding with further formal negotiations with interested providers", the local authority said.

The spokesperson added: "The council’s financial challenges are increasing, and we have been clear from the outset that we would like to consider options which bring savings to the council with minimal disruption to residents and their families."

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