Care homes in Gloucestershire to close
Councillors voted down a call-in for the decision - meaning the closures will go ahead
The closure of four Gloucestershire care homes will go ahead as councillors voted down a call-in for the decision.
Gloucestershire County Council leaders agreed last month to decommission Bohanam House in Gloucester, Orchard House in Bishop’s Cleeve, The Elms in Stonehouse and Westbury Court in Westbury-on-Severn.
Cabinet members agreed on June 22 to close the care homes which were built in the 1970s and are currently being run by the Orders of St John Care Trust.
And they agreed to develop the business case for redeveloping the Elms site in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire for a new care facility.
The closure plans follow a six-week consultation with residents, the relatives and staff in the homes.
The proposals were first put to cabinet following a review of care services in the county and feedback from the care market. However, many opposition councillors felt the move to close the care homes was a ‘done deal’ before any decision had been taken.
And Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green Party councillors called in the decision to debate whether due process had been followed in arriving at their decision.
Cllr Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton), who put forward the call-in, said he remains unconvinced the council followed the appropriate process.
He told the adult social care and communities scrutiny committee that the number of care homes owned by GCC will have reduced from 21 to nine over recent years.
Cllr Hilton said statements made in press releases prior to the decision make clear the whole process was predetermined.
He said: “Particularly as only two options were on the table. One option was for them to stay open and do nothing, and the other was to close them because they didn’t meet modern standards.”
He said the care homes need modernising but has never seen any evidence that this had been considered as an option.
Adult social care commissioning cabinet member Carole Allaway-Martin (C, Coleford) said the decision to close the care homes was a very difficult one to make but reassured the committee that the council had followed the proper process.
She said the council has a responsibility to manage the care sector and ensure there is enough care provision across the whole county.
There are around 800 vacant care home beds across Gloucestershire currently and Cllr Allaway-Martin said the cabinet’s decision will help ensure the viability of the care home market.
“The decisions were well considered. We have met the guidelines in the constitution and we’ve gone above and beyond what we should be doing.
“We have taken significant legal, ethical and social advice from professional bodies and we’ve looked at case material.
“No communication from the council until June 22 states or implies that any decision had been taken in relation to the four homes or the other proposals put forward to stabilise the care market.
“At each stage, cabinet has been open and transparent about their deliberations.
“Far from predetermining the decision, cabinet has entered each stage in good conscience and has exposed its interim conclusions to scrutiny, challenge from fellow councillors, experts within the sector and the wider public.”
The grounds for the call-in included that the cabinet should take proper account of consultation with others and that discounted alternatives to the closures should be identified and the reasons for their rejection explained adequately.
The committee voted to reject the grounds of the call-in by five votes to four. Officers said the cabinet can now proceed with implementing the decision with immediate effect.