CASH-STRAPPED Borough of Poole is poised to build its own care home to combat the increased costs being charged by the private sector.

The authority’s cabinet has recommended full council backs plans for an 80-bed home at Mitchell Road, Canford Heath, the site of the former Care UK Mitchell House residential home which closed in 2014.

If agreed, it will become the first council-owned home in the borough for more than 30 years and represent a marked change in tackling what some fear is an emerging social care crisis.

Cllr Karen Rampton, cabinet portfolio holder for adult social services at BOP, said: “The population of older people in Poole is increasing and we are currently totally reliant on the independent care sector which is becoming increasingly unaffordable to the public sector.”

The new council-owned home would operate independently under a contract specifically aimed at Poole residents who are unable to fully fund their own care needs, the council insists.

This move follows the January publication of the borough’s Older People Nursing and Residential Care Home Strategic Review.

That review - which identified five care homes that had closed over the past two years in Poole with the loss of 214 beds - recognised demand remained for additional care home provision. It also noted the borough’s ageing population.

Meanwhile, three new care homes have opened in recent years, providing 216 new beds.

But in his report to cabinet, head of commissioning and improvement Phil Hornsby says the fees demanded by these homes are “significantly above rates acceptable to the council.”

Social services bosses believe the trend of increasing fees charged by the private sector over the past 18 months is set to continue, piling pressure on the borough’s future financial plans.

Full council will decide whether or not to back the care home plans on September 27.