Temporary reprieve for Intermediate Care Centres for Older People

Following a presentation of the petition now signed by over 7,300 people to save Sevenfields and Hazelhurst resource centres (providing intermediate care for older people), today's meeting of Sheffield Council agreed unanimously to refer the proposed closure to the Council's Health Scrutiny Committee for further evaluation which will give all those concerned, including the public, carers and staff to press their case and look in more detail at options.  This vote came after something of an inter party slanging match with Labour and the Lib Dems hurling accusations at each other.

The scene was set by a question (not properly answered) from Sheffield LINK about the complete lack of any intermediate care strategy and the petition was well presented.  The main case for closure was that, despite the generally accepted excellent quality of care, the buildings were unsuitable (communal toilets) and required further refurbishment which could only be temporary and the NHS (NHS Sheffield, ie. GPs) wants to purchase beds which provide nursed care, which the resource centres don't.  The Council was therefore facing both increased expenditure and loss of income.  There seemed to be disagreement about the demand for beds, with the official reports (including the original one for the Lib Dems) saying they were underused, while the advocates of staying open said there are waiting lists. 

The Lib Dems quite rightly pointed out that the result of closure would be the effective privatisation of the service because a possible NHS 120 bed intermediate treatment centre has not got out of the planning stage and the intention is that the NHS (and non NHS supported prospective residents) would need to purchase beds in the private sector where 'costs [including wage costs] are lower.  Lib Dems also suggested there were more options now including a worker's co-op approach perhaps financed by the Coalition's Big Society loan fund, announced today. This might have been pre-election flag waving and not very realistic but it made the point that only a restricted number of options had been considered.  The Greens joined the call for referral to scrutiny.