Care facility plan cancelled due to falling demand

A council has said it will save more than £13m by not going ahead with the construction of a planned care facility due to "diminishing demand".

At a meeting on Tuesday, Bradford councillors heard that a 50-bed facility in Saltaire was no longer needed thanks to a scheme prioritising sending patients home from hospital, rather than to a care facility.

A requirement for 155 council care home beds in November 2023 had fallen to 61 beds in July 2024, according to a report.

Bradford Council's executive agreed that the £13.4m capital budget for the site in Saltaire should be removed and the land sold.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council's executive member for healthy people and places, had earlier told the meeting that "things have changed and, where possible, we support people to live in their own homes independently with support rather than in a care home.

She added: "Hospitalisation can mean elderly people lose their independence, but since the introduction of the new Home First Assessment Support, intermediate care in Bradford district has been transformed.

"This means that once people are well enough to leave hospital, they are immediately given intensive support to go home."

The Home First scheme had seen 145 people discharged from hospital while having their immediate care needs met in four days, rather than six weeks, Ms Ferriby explained.

"More than 76% people have had a positive outcome, compared to 47% on the previous scheme, and a massive 870 bed days saved, allowing more beds to be available in hospital for urgent care," she said.

Ms Ferriby added that care bed requirements were also expected to be reduced across the Bradford district.

Councillor Allison Coates, Conservative spokesperson for healthy people and places, said: "The council is looking to rein in the spending because of its financial situation."

The Home First scheme was "a really good policy to get people out of hospital and stop the bed-blocking", she said.

"We know people want to be at home and not in hospital."

The location in Saltaire which had been earmarked for the care facility, the former Neville Grange Care Home site on Queens Road, would be "prime for a business to use it and help the local economy", Ms Coates added.

Earlier in the year, Bradford was one of 19 English councils to be granted emergency support - £80m for the current financial year and £140m for next year.

Council bosses said despite the support, they would still have to push ahead with £40m of planned cuts, facility closures and price rises, as well as a council tax hike.

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