Adult learning disability care home in Stoke facing closure

A Stoke-on-Trent care home is facing closure due to funding issues.

Mencap who currently operate from Foster Court in Blurton say they have made the decision to hand back the contract as a ‘last resort’.

The care home, set up to support adults who have learning disabilities, is currently housing six residents from the city full time. Current residents have three months before they need to move to another care provider.

Both Mencap and Stoke-on-Trent City Council have said sorry for not being able to find a solution and the impact that will have on current residents.

Funding issues are at the heart of the issue with Mencap stating that it is costing significantly more to run the care home than it receives in funding from Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The Acting CEO of Mencap has described the current situation as ‘not sustainable’ and the decision has been done lightly.

Jackie O’Sullivan, Acting CEO of Mencap, said: “The service at Foster Court costs significantly more to run than Mencap receives in funding from the Local Authority. We have been paying the difference  for several years, but this is not sustainable for us, as a service provider and charity, in the long term.   

"As a very last resort, we have had to make the difficult decision to hand back our contract to Stoke and Staffordshire Council.  They now have the responsibility for finding alternative care providers, but we are working alongside them and will do whatever we can to provide a smooth and supportive transition for the people at Foster Court.    

 "We know that these changes will be felt deeply by the people we support and their families. It is not something we have done lightly and we feel very sorry that an alternative solution could not be found to allow us to continue to provide their care." 

The City Council are working with affected residents and care providers to settle residents as quickly as possible, however now residents only have three months before they need to leave Foster Court.

In a statement Councillor Duncan Walker, Cabinet member for adult services says they council will work with care providers to make the transition into the new home as smooth and easy as possible and blamed the cost of living crisis and increased energy prices as part of the reason for the closure.

Councillor Walker said:

"We are working with the residents and families of those affected to enable a move to a new care provider, and we will endeavour to make this as smooth and easy as possible. The six individuals directly affected have three months before they need to move and we have already started working with them.

"We are incredibly sorry this is happening and we recognise that Mencap has been facing a number of challenges including the rising cost of living, rises in the national living wage, and increasing energy prices which has led them to this decision. We are working with all care providers who are facing these challenges and supporting them to provide care in difficult circumstances. 

"We commission Mencap to look after our six residents, full-time, at Foster Court, a care home set up to support adults who have learning disabilities. We know this news is going to be devastating to them and their families, but we will work with our many residential care home partners to ensure that we settle our residents into a new home as quickly as possible."

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