PROJECT SIX: Feasibility Study for Older People's Resource Centres
The Borough had a number of registered care and day care Resource Centres that required scrutiny in the light of the changing needs of older people and the need for individual centres to provide services that were “fit for the future”. Before considering each site through undertaking feasibility studies a clear idea of the preferred service model for each site was developed together with estimates of future need both in terms of numbers and the type of service required. The following was a first draft outline of that model.
Proposed Service Model
The model of care envisaged for the future support of older people in the Borough was based on an extension of the current Resource Centre model. The plan was to combine on one site Registered Care, Extracare, Day Care and relevant “community facing” services geared towards supporting older people in the local community.
Using the current numbers of beds as a rationale for informing the re-provision design, the following scenario was developed. If three centres were to be retained and the remaining registered care bed placements after the first closure were to be evenly distributed, each home would have 43 beds. If the original number of “supported beds” were to be maintained the remaining 38 could be developed as Extracare units on one, two or three of the sites. Economies of scale in building terms would probably determine the number of sites for the Extracare and it is likely that the 38 units would be developed on no more than two sites.
However, sourcing future need should be based on better information than simply replacing a set of bed numbers which have come into being over time and probably as a result of coincidence rather than strategic planning.
Strategy and Commissioning should be asked to:
• Interrogate the 2001 Census data to predict future population trends for people over 75 years of age by area, cultural background and any other relevant data sub set.
• Audit current purchasing patterns by choosing an “audit date” say June 1st 2003 and collate information by: User name and age Placement type, cost and location So that data can be captured to provide a benchmark from which to operate.
• Undertake an audit of day centre attendance and obtain waiting list information
• Calculate a bed price for the current in-house Registered Care Homes for comparison with the current cost of care in the independent sector
• Compare LBH older people placement costs with its DoH “family”
