County chiefs can't save Swanage care home (From Bournemouth Echo)

County chiefs can't save Swanage care home

4:45pm Thursday 4th March 2010 in

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COUNTY chiefs have ruled against taking over the running of a doomed Swanage care home.

Dorset County Council cabinet members said they had no real alternative other than recommending closure of the James Day Care Home, despite impassioned pleas from home staff, supporters and relatives of residents.

Around a dozen Save James Day Action Group members listened intently in County Hall, as councillors heard social care reports ahead of their decision.

Officers told them employment law and Care Quality Commission regulations made it impossible to take up the reins given the three-month notice handed in by operator Care South.

Out of the 22 residents, eight have been re-housed and another 10 have agreed alternative accommodation. Only four residents are yet to be re-housed.

With just one month until the home is scheduled to shut, council leader Angus Campbell described the cabinet’s decision as a “fait accompli”.

He stressed: “We are in a position where we haven’t enough time, but we have what will be an asset for the future.”

Cllr Campbell pledged the home would be re-developed for the elderly people of Swanage.

Care South dropped its bombshell in January. It says the home, which caters for dementia patients and the elderly, was no longer viable following a 30 per cent rent increase.

The county raised the rent by £20,500 a year, after a 14-year rent freeze, but James Day made a £200,000 yearly loss.

Care South chief executive Susan Willoughby said: “We will do everything we can to make all moves as easy as we can for residents.”