Archived decisions

    Hampshire County Council

    Executive Member - Adult Social Care Item 1

    27 May 2005

    Addenbrooke Residential Care Home - Approval of proposals to support care of residents during urgent maintenance and refurbishment works

    Report of the Director of Social Services

      1 Summary
      The following decisions are sought:

      1.1 The Executive Member is asked to approve Option 3.

        This option being to move 20 residents to Hawthorne Court with 7 residents to remain in Addenbrooke. A full assessment of this option has been undertaken and the remaining residents can be safely accommodated on the ground floor of the building for the 8-week duration of the works.

      1.2 This allows Social Services to manage all residents safely and has the advantage of reducing the impact on the use of Hawthorne Court beds.

      2 Reason(s)

      2.1 The unit has outstanding maintenance work including several emergency lights that cannot be repaired or replaced with all residents in situ as they are positioned on asbestos ceilings.

        In order to upgrade these lights, which is a requirement from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service there is a need to reduce resident numbers for a period of 8 weeks. The work is scheduled to commence on 4 July 2005.

      3 Other options considered and rejected

      3.1 Option 1: Do nothing - This is not an option as the emergency lighting is a requirement from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

      3.2 Option 2: Move all 27 residents to Hawthorne Court - This option would allow the works to proceed in an empty building. However in order to do this Social Services would need to use 3 blocks in Hawthorne Court which is a total of 30 beds. This would impact on the ability to reach the Department's target of 60 Nursing Home beds to be operational by August 2005.This could result in increased delayed transfers of care and increased reimbursement fines being incurred by social services.


      4 Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision-maker or other Executive Member consulted

      4.1 None

      5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

      5.1 None

      6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

      6.1Not applicable

      Approved by: Date of decision:

          Councillor Patricia Banks

    Hampshire County Council

    Executive Member - Adult Social Care I

    27 May 2005

    Addenbrooke Residential Care Home - Approval of proposals to support care of residents during urgent maintenance and refurbishment works

    Report of the Director of Social Services

1 Summary (Executive or Introductory)

1.1 Background

      Addenbrooke is a 35 bedded Residential home situated in Gosport. It is one of SS's units which provides dementia care.

      The unit has outstanding maintenance work including several emergency lights that cannot be repaired or replaced with residents in situ as they are positioned on asbestos ceilings.

1.2 In order to upgrade these lights, which is a requirement from Hampshire Fire and Rescue there is a need to reduce resident numbers for a period of 8 weeks. The work is scheduled to commence on 4th July 2005.

1.3 This decision supports two Aims of the Corporate Strategy:

      Aim 1 (Maximising Life Opportunities by assisting timely delivery of caring services)

      Aim 5 (Making sure services continuously improve)

2 Detail of Programme of Works

      Property Services are planning to undertake the following works :

2.1 Replace asbestos containing ceilings with a new suspended ceiling. This will enable the emergency lighting and main lighting system to be upgraded, which is a requirement from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

2.2 Refurbish two bathrooms to include new specialist baths, replacement sanitary ware, redecoration and new floor coverings.

2.3 To undertake essential repair and maintenance works to the passenger lift which will necessitate the lift being taken out of commission for a period of three weeks.

2.4 To increase the height of the balustrade on all three stair cases.

3 Options for Managing the Care of Residents

      During this 8-week period the safety and welfare of residents and staff is a key priority. The scale of the asbestos removal means that the maximum number of residents who can be safely accommodated on the ground floor of the unit is seven.

3.1 The following options have been considered:

3.1.1 Option 1: Do nothing - This is not an option as the emergency lighting is a requirement from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

3.1.2 Option 2: Move all 27 residents to Hawthorne Court - This option would allow the works to proceed in an empty building. However in order to do this SS would need to use 3 blocks in Hawthorne Court which is a total of 30 beds. This would impact on the Department's ability to reach its target of 60 Nursing home beds to be operational by August 2005.This could result in increased delayed transfers of care and increased reimbursement fines being incurred by social services.

3.1.3 Option 3: Move 20 residents to Hawthorne Court with 7 residents to remain in the ground floor of Addenbrooke. A full assessment of this option has been undertaken and the remaining residents can be safely accommodated on the ground floor of the building for the 8-week duration of the works. This option allows SS to manage the care of all residents safely and has the advantage of reducing the impact on the use of Hawthorne Court beds.

3.2 To compensate for the reduction in Dementia Care residential beds that are available in the locality both Option 2 and Option 3 can be supported by additional interim purchasing in the independent sector, if required.

4. Consultation with Relatives, Service Users and Staff

    Following approval SS will begin working with relatives of service users and staff to put in place plans for the implementation of the approved option.

4.1 This will include the identification of those residents who will be moved as part of the proposals and those who would remain in Addenbrooke. These decisions will be made in consultation with relatives and will be based on detailed individual assessments of the physical frailty/mental health of residents and any other risks associated with the management of their care.

4.2 We have also considered any additional costs that will be incurred by relatives having to travel to Hawthorne Court and have agreed that these will be reimbursed accordingly, considering requests for reimbursement on a case by case basis.

5. Consultation with Partners

    Following approval SS will work closely with colleagues from Health to ensure that General Practitioner and Community Services cover are maintained during the eight week period.

6. Financial Impact

6.1 Options 2 and 3 require SS to consider the possible financial impact.

      In both cases there will be a need to pay additional travel costs to staff and relatives, plus any costs associated with the transfer of residents. These will be minimal and managed within the revenue budget for Residential and Nursing Care.

6.2 In addition to this for Option 2 there is potential loss of nursing home income if SS is unable to open the full 60 beds by August 2005. The potential lost revenue for one month is £16,800.

6.3 For Option 3 there will be additional minimal staffing costs. These will be managed within the overall revenue budgets for Hawthorne Court and Addenbrooke.

7. Diversity Statement

      In writing this report and developing the strategy regard has been given to the County Councils' duties in relation to the Race Relation Amendment Act 2000 and Hampshire County Council's own race equality scheme.

8. Recommendations

      The Executive Member is asked to approve Option 3 as the preferred option.

      This being to move 20 residents to Hawthorne Court with 7 residents to remain in Addenbrooke. A full assessment of this option has been undertaken and the remaining residents can be safely accommodated on the ground floor of the building for the 8-week duration of the works. This allows SS to manage all residents safely and has the advantage of reducing the impact on the use of Hawthorne Court beds.

      Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

      The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

      NB the list excludes:

      1. Published works

      2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act

      None