Protest anger as council votes to close care homes

Mar 27 2008 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

Protest anger as council votes to close care homes

A NOISY demonstration was held outside Liverpool Town Hall last night as councillors debated the closure of two homes providing care for the elderly.

Leighton Dene residential home in Fazakerley, and the Boaler Street rehabilitation unit in Kensington, have both been earmarked for closure under council budget cuts.

The move has provoked angry protests from both users and staff at the homes, which offer a range of services including respite care for families looking after Alzheimer’s and dementia sufferers.

The centres are also used for intermediate, short-term rehabilitation of patients who are ready to leave hospital but too unwell to go home. A total of 82 staff work at the homes.

The council’s Labour group leader, Cllr Joe Anderson, last night called on the authority to reprieve the two homes.

He said: “The simple fact is that Leighton Dene and Boaler Street deserve to be kept open because they provide a valuable service.

“We need to find a solution and save the two homes. It’s what the people of this city expect of you, and what they deserve.”

In response, the Lib Dem-controlled council said that while the buildings would be closed, the services they provided would be transferred to the city’s three existing residential homes, and to the private sector.

Cllr Dave Antrobus, the executive member for social care, said: “Some of the locations may change, but the service will not be detrimental to the people they look after.”

A call by the Labour group to keep the two homes open was de- feated. Instead, the council voted to open immediate negotiations with Liverpool Primary Care Trust to work on a solution which would maintain the services cur- rently offered at the two homes.

The council has previously said the homes will be scaled down, and patients will not be moved until they are ready to do so. New patients who would have been sent to the homes will either be accommodated at three long term homes where there are vacant beds, or be sent home with extra care provided.

alanweston