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₤21m investment set to boost City's care home
provision
LIVERPOOL'S commitment to improve services for people with
dementia and their carers is to be boosted, as it is on the cusp of agreeing a
new ₤21m partnership with Shaw healthcare to build 3 new Residential Care Homes.
The 3, 50 bed flexible facilities will open by the end of 2019, providing
state of the art accommodation and care for people living with dementia, as well
as those with other long term residential and nursing care needs in the North,
Central and Southern parts of the City.
They will help reduce the number of people unnecessarily delayed in Hospital
following NHS treatment by getting and improve their experience of Health and
Social Care services by driving up quality standards.
They will be flexible step up, step down facilities, meaning they can be used to
support people with lower level needs who would otherwise end up in Hospital, as
well as providing intermediate care to help get people out of Hospital quicker.
The City Council already spends almost ₤50 million a year on residential and
nursing care, plus a further ₤11 million on dementia and memory loss services.
It has shielded social care as much as it can from the cuts in its funding from
central Government since 2010.
The 1st new Centre will be at the Venmore Rehabilitation Hub in Anfield, with
the existing stroke services relocated to a new site in Townsend Lane.
A 2nd will be on disused playing fields at the former Parklands High School,
close to Speke district Centre. The Council is currently considering a number of
sites for a 3rd Centre in the North of the City.
The investment; being considered by the Cabinet on Friday, 1 September 2017, is part
of a commitment by the Council to meet the rising demand for dementia care
services, as well as increased need for quality respite facilities for carers by
2020. The Council will borrow the money to build the Centres with the repayments
covered by income from the leases on each site.
The need for increased capacity in residential and nursing dementia care homes
is due to an increasingly ageing population, which means that demand is expected
to exceed the current market supply by 2020.
An estimated 1,300 people are currently in commissioned dementia placements, a
figure than represents nearly 60% of all residential social care admissions for
people aged over 65.
There are currently 94 care homes registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC),
providing some 3,725 places, which is the highest in the Liverpool City Region
and 4th highest in the North West, but population dynamics still indicate
there will be pressure if action is not taken.
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:- "We have already
invested heavily in creating new social care hubs across the City in recent
years, but our increasing elderly population means that we are facing a
significant challenge in ensuring that there is sufficient capacity within our
social care system to meet the needs of people with dementia and other long term
care needs. This is against a backdrop of rising demand, significant cuts to our
budget from central Government of ₤420 million between 2010 and 2020 and
increasing pressure on wider healthcare services. The decision to invest in 3
purpose built care homes that will offer residential and nursing dementia beds
and carer respite is part of our invest to save strategy and will help ease
pressure on other, more costly parts of the Health Service such as Hospital
beds, and save the public purse money. Crucially, they will also act as flexible
care hubs that can meet surges in demand and help to avoid unnecessary Hospital
admissions and delays in ward discharges."
Shaw healthcare was selected as the preferred provider for the project following
a competitive tender process that also involved the employee owned company
signing up to the Liverpool Social Value Charter. Over the duration of the
contract, Shaw healthcare will develop skills and training programmes in
conjunction with local Colleges, work with Job Centre Plus to offer local
employment opportunities, create work placements and apprenticeships across all
facilities and deliver on a commitment to the procurement of goods and services
through local companies. "Shaw healthcare is proud and excited to be selected by Liverpool City
Council to deliver this important project that will provide a huge boost to the
City in terms of its ability to meet the needs of vulnerable people right across
the City.
The aims of this project echoes Shaw's own values of wellness, kindness and
happiness; which means a commitment to providing high quality care services that
enable elderly and vulnerable people to enjoy the best possible quality of life,
supported by well trained staff in a caring environment. As a co-operatively run
company, we also welcome the commitment to offering at least the National Living
Wage to all employees working within the three Centres, regardless of age, and
to building strong links with the local community and local organisations,
something that we strive to do at all the care homes we manage across the
country." said Suzanne Hughes, deputy CEO of Shaw healthcare.
The next step will be for the Council to apply for secure planning consent for
the three facilities, each designed by Kier Architects to a future proofed,
dementia friendly specification. Construction will be undertaken by Willmott
Dixon Construction as part of the Scape National Framework, which already has a
proven record in maximising spend through the local supply chain and the
creation of sustainable apprenticeships in the construction sector. Post
construction, the Council will enter into a 25 year lease agreement with Shaw
healthcare to manage the care services provided at each location.
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