Nine residential care homes to be shut in Northern Ireland

Northern Health and Social Care Trust are to shut all nine of their residential care homes in Northern Ireland.

A spokesperson for the Northern Trust announced: "Given the level of media interest, the trust has taken the unusual step of providing comment in advance of the trust board discussion."

"At present the trust manages nine residential homes and we propose that no more long-term admissions are made to any of our homes; we would intend to close up to 50 per cent of our homes over the next three years and in the longer term stop providing statutory residential care entirely. Some private residential care will be available.

"The consultation paper proposes how we will do this and how we will work with residents, families, carers and staff to ensure that the needs of the most important people, the residents, are met.

"If agreed, this will be a planned and phased approach and will depend on the availability of alternatives and the residents to be placed."

Last October the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) led consultation on Transforming Your Care: Vision to Action, which included proposals for services for older people aiming to fulfil their future needs and personal choices. These services will have an increased emphasis on independence.

John Compton, chief executive of the HSCB said: “The Board supports the trend towards independent living at home focussing on helping people remain at home for as long as possible or in supported living accommodation and offering more choice and control about the type of care available to older people.”

“In addition, many of our current statutory residential homes are in need of significant capital investment which we feel would be more appropriately directed to non-institutional, community based services to increase the range of alternatives for older people,”

The union Unison has strongly opposed the decision, and Joe McCusker of Unison said: "The proposal to close residential care homes leaves no NHS provision for residential care in the Northern Health Trust area. "This will remove any choice for vulnerable people to be cared for in an NHS care home. The Northern Health Trust needs to explain why they have taken the decision to close all its residential care homes."

It was proposed in the consultation Vision to Action that at least 50 per cent of statutory residential care homes would close over the next 3 to 5 years

Mr Compton concluded: “There is no proposal to close any nursing homes. These are homes where residents require full time nursing care or support. In comparison, residential care homes accommodate those who need help with personal care due to old age, illness and/ or infirmity, or disablement.

“It is extremely important that the current residents in all residential care homes are treated with dignity and respect with recognition that the residential home is their home. Any transition should be managed sensitively and with the full involvement of residents and their families, and we are committed to working with the Trusts to ensure this is achieved.”