County Council Cabinet to consider the future use of care homes

Proposals for the future of the county council’s remaining in-house care homes and for closer working with health partners are due to be considered by Cabinet following two public consultations.

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet will consider a report on Thursday 20th February, recommending changes which would support the council’s intention to create an efficient, effective and sustainable care service focusing on:

• Specialist residential, respite and day services to support the growing number of people with dementia and their carers.
• Short-term enablement, reablement and assessment to help more Derbyshire residents live independently at home.
• Closer working with health partners to improve flow through the health and care system, including an increase in the number of community support beds (CSB) – known as hospital discharge beds.

Cabinet is due to consider the report following feedback given during the consultations, including from NHS partners.

Members will be told of the continuing backdrop of financial pressures faced by the authority, and councils across the country, including inflation, meeting the cost of the national pay award and rising demand for social care.

They will also hear of the decline in demand for traditional residential care and the need for more specialist care for the growing number of people in Derbyshire with dementia.

Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for adult care Councillor Natalie Hoy said: “People tell us they want to remain in their own homes for as long as possible which has led to a decline in demand for traditional residential care and a rise in demand for specialist care, including nursing care which we’re not legally allowed to provide.

“By the time people require care they often have more complex needs, including dementia, which means we need to adapt our services to help support them.

“By remodelling our in-house care services we aim to help even more people to live at home by supporting them to come home from hospital, prevent unnecessary hospital admission and help people with more complex needs by creating wraparound care for those with dementia – including overnight respite and day breaks – to help support carers.”

Cabinet will consider recommendations following two public consultations – one into proposed changes to three of its remaining in-house care homes and a second into closer working with health partners through a legal agreement called a Section 75.

Almost 800 people responded to the consultation into the future of Ada Belfield Centre, Staveley Centre and Thomas Fields, with three petitions also received.

More than 350 responses were received on closer integration with Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust (DCHS).

The Cabinet report contains the following recommendations:

• The council ceases to operate long-term residential and respite care at The Staveley Centre and Thomas Fields, enabling the council to repurpose them to focus on rehabilitation beds only, known as hospital discharge beds.
• Ada Belfield Centre is offered for transfer on the open market as a going concern for a period of up to eight weeks. The library would not be affected.
• Cabinet notes the intention to move forward and explore entering into a Section 75 agreement.

Councillor Hoy said: “All the comments and feedback from the consultations have been taken into account and I’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to respond. I recognise this is a difficult time for our residents and their families and I would like to assure them their health and wellbeing remains our top priority and we will do everything we can to support them throughout this time.

“I would also like to assure the Belper community that the library would not be affected by any changes.”

Last year Cabinet approved a range of measures to support changes to the way the council provides in-house care services for older people, enabling it to focus on short-term enablement for older people and specialist services for the growing number of people with dementia and their carers.

By creating care homes focusing on either providing support to people with dementia or on providing short-term reablement and assessment care, the council aims to create a more efficient and effective service able to adapt to both changes and growth in demand.

Currently, it has 78 community support beds (CSB) beds – known as hospital discharge beds – jointly operated with health in five county council-run care homes that also have long-term residents. If the latest changes are agreed, it would provide 92 in three settings dedicated to CSB only, giving a geographical spread across the county.

Councillor Hoy added: “Our aim is to adapt to the changes in demand so we can create a sustainable care service which can support more Derbyshire residents to remain living independently in their own homes and communities.

“Supporting the health and care system through closer working with health partners is vital if we’re to help even more people remain at home. There are also benefits to single-model care services, both in terms of staffing and increased effectiveness.

“By creating a new model of in-house care we can create a service that can help people who need us most.”

A copy of the Cabinet report can be found on the county council’s website.