The niece of a woman who lives in one of the five Lancashire County Council-run care homes whose futures are in doubt says she takes no comfort from the fact that a final decision over what should happen to the facilities has been delayed.
The authority has announced that it no longer intends to reach a conclusion by February about the viability of the services, as had previously been planned.
That was the point at which cabinet members were due to decide the fate of the residential properties – along with five day centres – all of which were placed under review because of concerns over the “significantly poor” condition of the buildings from which they operate.
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However, the county council’s Reform UK leader, Stephen Atkinson, said on Tuesday (16 December) that more time was needed to ensure that the 1,600 “heartfelt” responses submitted as part of a recent public consultation into the services were properly considered.
No firm date has been fixed for a decision – although he suggested “later in the spring” was a possibility – but he added he wanted to reassure affected families that their views were taken “very seriously”.
But Jennie Lawrenson, whose 77-year old aunt, Kathleen – a dementia sufferer – is a resident of Grove House in Adlington, said her fears were far from being soothed.
“There are some people that are thinking we should be raising a glass tonight – as if we’ve had a victory. I don’t buy that, I’m afraid.
“I want to know what [Lancashire County Council] is going to do, positively, to support these homes, so that they will be in a better position and the council can say [they] deserve to be open.
“I’m not hearing that – and I just feel people may think we don’t need to fight anymore, but that could be very dangerous.
“If there was a [new] date for a decision, that would help. But at the moment, it’s just prolonging the agony,” Jennie added.
The delay in the process has also gone down badly with opposition politicians who have been campaigning to protect the under-review facilities in their areas.
County Cllr Kim Snape, the Labour representative for the Chorley Rural East division in which Grove House stands, said she was “extremely frustrated and angered” by the hold-up.
“It appears [Lancashire County Council] are kicking the can down the road, delaying any decision on Grove House – and the other sites – until spring, with no definite date in sight.
“This ongoing agony is prolonging the uncertainty for residents, families and hardworking staff. It is an awful way to treat people.
“This whole situation, from the start to where we are now, is an absolute shambles,” County Cllr Snape said, adding that she would continue campaigning for Grove House to be kept open.
Meanwhile, County Cllr David Whipp, (Liberal Democrat, Pendle Rural) – who is also the leader of Pendle Council – said residents of the Favordale care home in his area were paying the price for a political misjudgement.
“The county council’s Reform administration has reached a new low. Instead of facing up to the monumental mistake they made in October to consult on closing care homes, and bowing to public pressure, they are trying to kick the can down the road.
“This is a bitter blow to residents and their families. The continued uncertainty will badly affect people living in the homes.
“Reform’s administration should resign over this tragic mismanagement of the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our communities,” County Cllr Whipp said.
County Cllr Atkinson accused opposition politicians of having stirred up public concern – and said they should apologise.
“This was only ever a consultation. We’ve had councilors who have been saying that we’re going to knock the homes down to build houses. This is just wrong – none of that is in our plans.
“Our plan is to do a consultation and learn from it. I think the people that need to apologise [are] the people that politicised this and made people fear for the future,” County Cllr Atkinson added.
In a separate public statement, he said of the delayed decision: “We would like to thank everyone for their feedback to our consultation.
“Stakeholders have shared their voices with us in many ways, through questionnaires, heartfelt letters and thoughtful emails, and each response is a valued part of this journey together.
“It seems only wise because of the large volume of information we have gathered to take all the necessary time to thoroughly consider all the data provided as part of this process.
“We know that this will prolong the uncertainty surrounding the future of the facilities involved, and for that I am sorry. However, this is a process we do not want to rush – it is simply too important.
“This is clearly an emotive issue, and we understand that people feel extremely strongly about the future of these care homes and day centres.
“Our objective has always been to consider how best we ensure the safety and dignity of our residents and day centre users, both now and in the future.
“As always, we want to make the best decision for the people of Lancashire using all the relevant information at our disposal.”
Which services are affected?
The care homes under review are: Favordale (Colne), Grove House (Adlington), Milbanke (Kirkham), Thornton House (Thornton Cleveleys) and Woodlands (Clayton-le-Moors) – which have a combined capacity to accommodate 229 people, roughly 45 at each location.
Meanwhile, the day centres whose futures are being assessed are: Byron View (Colne, attached to Favordale), Derby Centre (Ormskirk), Milbanke Day Centre (Kirkham, attached to Milbanke care home), Teal Close, (Thornton Cleveleys, attached to Thornton House) and Vale View (Lancaster) – they provide daytime support to older people, including those in the early stages of dementia, although Byron View and Teal House have so far not reopened after what were intended as temporary closures at the onset of the pandemic. The remainder are all at less than 60 percent capacity.
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