Day care centre like a four star hotel
I visited a brand new privately run day care centre in Mile Oak yesterday and it certainly opened my eyes as to what is possible in the private sector.
The County’s Changing Lives agenda is controversial. The rushed closure of state run residential care homes and day care centres has been disastrous.
Labour’s delivery of the new policy is the problem. Elderly and vulnerable people have had their lives turned upside down…. and that is wrong and dangerous. The policy itself makes sense. The public sector residential care homes and day care centres are, in the main, old and run down with very basic facilities. They cost the tax payer far more to run than in the private sector. If those needing care can have a choice by being provided with money to pay for whatever type of services they want and where they want it, that is good. Instead of simply sitting in a day care centre for hours on end they could take a day trip to Blackpool or visit National Trust properties, go on a coach trip or spend some time in the type of day care centre I visited…. which was stunningly good.
So let me just clarify again. The way the change in care services is being delivered is appalling. This whole agenda should have been phased in by the County over a number of years. Those already in state residential or day care homes should not have their lives up ended by having to move when they are comfortable and safe where they are.
Where Labour have got it completely wrong is they put the cart before the horse. Considering closing public run facilities before there is new and better private sector provision in place is madness. The haste is entirely money led and badly planned. The new Tamworth and District Day Centre I visited is definitely better in every way than what the County could ever provide but it only opened a month ago and is one of very few in the private sector.
It really was like a four star hotel. The rooms had plush sofas, the conservatory was fabulous and the dining areas were laid out in a way that you expect to see in a smart restaurant and lunch includes a glass of wine if wanted. You certainly wouldn’t find that in a state run centre. The day residents I spoke to thought it was great. A couple of them had been using a public day centre in Tamworth until a couple of weeks before. They were very clear that they’d never ever want to go back to the state sector.
And then there’s the clever and intelligent way it is staffed. They have a revolving rota of theme days where the centre is open for use by people with specific needs such as Dementia. Specialist staff ensure expertise in different areas of need. It works very well.
But, and it’s a big but, there aren’t anything like enough of these new style private sector day care centres. Fabulous as they are, there aren’t enough places. And that’s where the County have got it so wrong. I believe that a well organised and phased change over to this sort of privately provided care would be beneficial for users, save tens of millions for Staffordshire tax payers and certainly makes sense for the future.
It’s also true that most people who have known nothing but their own home, somewhere they’ve lived all their life, would probably want to try and stay there if at all possible when they start to need some care. The ‘allowing people to live in their own home for longer’ part of the policy is also probably right.
But only for those who’ve known nothing different. People who’ve become comfortable and feel secure in a state run facility they’ve been used to shouldn’t be expected to move if they don’t want to. Given the choice, from scratch, I can’t imagine anyone choosing the old state run system over what I saw in Mile Oak.
Labour, however, should scrap the tight schedule and enforced moves through closure and phase this whole programme in over a time period which is far more practical and compassionate. Actually they should have, like most other social care providing authorities, started the change process many years ago to avoid this mad rush.
You can have a look at what the Tamworth and District Day Centre has to offer here. They plan on opening more as fast as possible too.
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3 comments
Mr Ellis
I read with interest your comments. The County Council has not communicated their intentions very well.
I wonder if you’d let me know the difference in cost between the public and private sector?
Also, I understand that Conservative Party policy is to use the private sector where it is better, market forces and all that. You are sending out a mixed message as some of your colleagues appear to want keep state sector provision come what may.
I’d appreciate some view on this and the information of costs.
In answer to Peter’s comments I would agree that the change in older people’s provision of care has been handled very badly by the Labour administration at County.
Moving vulnerable people from surroundings they understand and feel safe in when they don’t want to move is unforgiveable. As I say in my post, the mad rush which is causing the difficulties is because Labour in Staffordshire are way behind other large social care authorities who made the changes years ago.
It should have been phased in over five or six years which would mean people who are not in the care system but are about to enter it can have a better choice because they can decide what type of provision they want the state to fund but those already in state care could stay there.
Nobody should be removed from their public sector care home or day centre against their will. The policy in priciple is fine… delivery of that policy is shocking, financial crisis led and plain wrong.
Now to the costs, which further down the line is very important as it’s tax payers’ money, but should not override the wellbeing of people.
Day care in a modern private sector facility such as the one in my post costs around £40 a day whilst in the County run day care facilities it is about £65 plus transport costs.
Residential care is more complicated because the level of care varies. A guide for the basic level of care is £450 per week in the public sector and £312 in the private and third sector. It isn’t just cost though.
And let me say once more that Labour have made a real mess of delivering this and Conservative’s number one priority is trying to ensure that mess is put right and vulnerable people are properly treated. I hope this helps.
My mother uses a day centre on a regular basis. I see no problem with changing from the council one she is in as it is well beyond its sell by date.
We do object to it being forced upon us though. Looking at the one in your picture there is no comparison with the tired and rather depressing one she uses. We do feel press-ganged and thrown from pillar to post though. Whether it was closing or not seemed to change from week to week.
It has caused great upset because older people don’t take enforced change well at all.
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