Fears over scheme to reopen care home
The prospective Labour Parliamentary candidate for Cannock is concerned that a scheme to reopen a former residential home for the elderly in the town may have been shelved.
The prospective Labour Parliamentary candidate for Cannock is concerned that a scheme to reopen a former residential home for the elderly in the town may have been shelved.
Sue Woodward, who is the former lead member for adult social services on Staffordshire County Council, and Councillor Dennis Dixon are pressing the new Tory administration at the council on their plans for the future of Langbourn House in Longford Road. The home closed last year as part of the old Labour administration's social care change programme.
Called Changing Lives, the scheme saw investment moved into housing, additional funds for adaptations allowing people to remain safe and independent in their own homes and a wider range of community care support services.
Mrs Woodward and Councillor Dixon, who is the former scrutiny chairman for adult social services, say that plans to reopen the home as a community-based reablement and resource centre now appear to have been shelved by the Tories.
Mr Woodward said: "Plans were well-advanced to open Langbourn in order to extend the excellent reablement services at Cannock Chase Hospital, operated jointly by the NHS and social services.
"These services have provided excellent additional services for many local people enabling them to get back on their feet, literally, and back home after serious illness or disability.
"Now, in spite of assurances that they are going to continue with the huge progress that has been made in social care locally, it looks like they have shelved our plans for Langbourn."
But Councillor Matthew Ellis, the cabinet member responsible for Langbourn, said the Changing Lives programme was flawed, short term and ill-thought through.
He said: "I'm looking again, in a much more strategic, logical and long term way, at the plans she had in place.
"I want to make sure we have the infrastructure and approach best suited for meeting the future challenges of an ageing population in Staffordshire.
"I visited the reablement services at Cannock Chase Hospital and was enormously impressed. I absolutely agree those services are vital but capacity available currently at the hospital is coping well."
