Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations

1.    Cabinet notes the views of residents and their families expressed in the consultation and the responses provided by officers to ensure residents’ care and support needs are met in Lord Hardy Court.

2.    Cabinet approves the Parkhill Lodge residential service being provided from Lord Hardy Court on an interim basis.

3.    Cabinet approves the proposal to close the Parkhill Lodge Building.

4.    Cabinet agrees consultation from May 2022 on options for new council accommodation with support for people with Autism and a Learning Disability. Investment proposals will return to Cabinet in November 2022 following this consultation.

In August 2021 Cabinet agreed for a formal consultation to be carried out concerning the temporary location of the Parkhill Lodge Residential Care Service. Parkhill Lodge was a 22-bed residential care home for adults with learning disabilities located in Maltby. It was originally built as a hostel in the 1970’s to provide temporary accommodation. There were currently 16 residents.

During October 2020 there was a significant COVID-19 outbreak at the Lodge rendering the Service unsafe. The decision was taken to move the residents to an empty pavilion at Lord Hardy Court in order to prevent the spread of infection. The Service continued to be supported by the same staff. The initial stay was due to end in December 2020, however, the continuing pandemic meant that a decision was taken to extend the stay.

The decision was then taken to review the decision for residents of Parkhill Lodge to temporarily reside at Lord Hardy Court with the option of a permanent move being proposed. The positives and negatives for each site were set out in the report to Cabinet in August, 2021.

The consultation ran from August, 2021 to October, 2021 and the Council commissioned the services of Cloverleaf, an advocacy organisation, to ensure that residents had a voice that was independent from the Local Authority.

A summary of the outcomes of the consultation was provided in paragraphs 2.5 and 2.6 of the report. Paragraph 2.9 of the report explained the difficulties that COVID-19 had caused at Parkhill Lodge and why it was not deemed suitable. The Cabinet Member explained that if the decision was taken to return to Parkhill Lodge, that decision would not be able to be actioned for a further 12 months to allow for the completion of all necessary upgrades that were required to get the facility up to the required standard. Further, the spread of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus meant it was not possible to return to Parkhill Lodge in the foreseeable future.

It was acknowledged that this was a difficult situation for some residents and a huge change for those that had lived at Parkhill Lodge for a number of years. However, the Council could not move residents back to a building that was not safe.

The exempt appendices provided Cabinet with information on infection prevention and control at Parkhill Lodge along with details of a health and safety inspection.

It was noted at the meeting that the report had originally been published with the fourth recommendation stating that a consultation would commence in May 2021; this had since been corrected to May 2022.

Resolved:

1.    That Cabinet note the views of residents and their families expressed in the consultation and the responses provided by officers to ensure residents’ care and support needs are met in Lord Hardy Court;

2.    That Cabinet approve the Parkhill Lodge residential service being provided from Lord Hardy Court on an interim basis;

3.    That Cabinet approve the proposal to close the Parkhill Lodge building;

4.    That Cabinet agree to a consultation from May 2022 on options for new Council accommodation with support from people with Autism and learning disabilities and that the investment proposals return to Cabinet in November 2022 following the conclusion on the consultation.