Rosa Monckton, clearly angered by what is proposed for the residents of Bystock Court, a residential home in Devon run by Devon Sheltered Homes Trust, published a moving and well-argued article in the Daily Mail’s Femail section on 16th April.
We were encouraged to see that Rosa was shedding light on issues that Rescare has attempted to highlight in recent years; the threat to residential care provision, the ‘failure’ of Valuing People, the inadequacies of the Mental Capacity Act…
The threat of closure seems to hang over ever more residential care homes. We are currently giving our support to the Stanley Grange Community Association (SGCA), who are fighting Hft’s proposal to close Stanley Grange. We brought news of their campaign in an article on this website , and will try to keep you updated.
Note that the SGCA is seeking support on Facebook and Twitter – see links on their website, or check our own tweets on their campaign ( Follow @Rescare_Charity ).
Note also that Rosa Mockton in her article cited the traumatic experiences of parents and carers affected by Self Unlimited’s closure of another residential facility in Devon Blackerton, in 2012; and that Stanley Grange is owned by Home Farm Trust (Hft), who merged with Self Unlimited in 2013 – details here . The reasons for the merger were described as follows:
Why have we merged with Self Unlimited?
A key part of our strategy is growth. This is important so we can meet the changing needs of local authorities and commissioners, develop specialist person-centred services and secure our long-term financial future.
Self Unlimited shares a similar history and values to us: both organisations are passionate about developing services that keep the people we support at the centre of everything we do.
Like us, Self Unlimited shares our ambition of encouraging supported living within the community, wherever possible, and providing quality support that promotes choice for the people we support, while also providing good value for money.
This statement raises more questions than it answers. We are concerned that arguments such as those put forward by Hft/Self Unlimited (above), will be used by other providers, as they face growing financial restraints and severe pressures from commissioners and funding authorities. Residential care provision for the learning disabled is under real and serious threat…