Wrexham Council Confirm Move To Cease Providing Older People’s Day Services

Two day centre facilities for older people in the Wrexham area are to close, and Wrexham Council are exiting the associated service provision space.

In a report presented to the Executive Board this morning eight of the nine councillors on the Executive Board backed proposals to decommission day services for older people provided at Caia Park and Plas Yn Rhos.

The eight councillors also supported a recommendation to cease being a direct provider of Older People’s Day Services.

The proposals to cease the services have been put forward due to them ‘no longer being required’ and the changing needs of the population.

It is thought that the closure of day centre services for older people are the the two facilities will make savings of £47,000.

Speaking this afternoon, Lead Member for Health and Adult Social Care Cllr Joan Lowe said: “Adult Social Care have been reshaping services for older people for the last few years. This proposal have been brought forward when sustained decline in usage has reached a point where these services are no longer required or viable.

“Older people keep telling us that they want to remain in their own homes with support and in their own communities as long as possible.”

As part of the proposal to close the facilities, a consultation with families, staff and service users at Caia Park and Plas Yn Rhos was held – with responses ranging from strong opposition to an acknowledgment that the service needs to change.

Cllr Lowe added that staff have been given options such as redeployment, voluntary retirement and voluntary redundancy.

Seconding the report, Cllr David Bithell said: “It is a difficult area for members, we need to understand the recommendation. The lead member was quite clear about older people remaining in their own homes – that has been the council objective for some time.

“We have to change and look for alternative delivery to improve outcomes for the people we represent.”

However questions were raised over if enough had been done to explore the option of centralising the day services into one facility, or looking at alternative social enterprise delivery methods – with Cllr Dana Davies describing the situation as Wrexham Council being on a ‘train to destination close, with the council not stopping at the platforms at any point’.

She said: “Everything seems to be cut or close. We talk a lot about community based services, but we need time to develop them, everything seems to be a rush. It is the ideal opportunity to work with the community and set up a social enterprise, that is what the consultation has said.”

Cllr Davies added: “The crux of this is location, there is a demand there. A stepped approach would be to centralise to one centre, which is running more efficiently than the other that can work with community to move into social enterprise or third sector.”

Cllr Lowe noted that the authority is trying to involve communities more and cited the work of community agents who have established a lunch club in the area.

She continued onto say: “Nothing happens overnight, it’s a long journey and a change of direction completely with budget reductions. It is going to get worse – we have to be inventive and look at other ways to work.”

Cllr Davies spent time explaining that the current ‘older people’ grouping is ages 55+, “We have group of younger older people and older older people. Each group require different services.”

Concerns over the consultation carried out were also raised by Cllr Brian Cameron, who queried why the wider population of Wrexham were not included in the consultation process.

He said: “A lot said during this administration about reshaping, can I mention that reshaping does not always mean closing. It might be easier but it is not always best.

“In relation to the consultation, I am very concerned. I know service users need to be consulted but I also think the population of Wrexham should be. Why? Because everyone at sometime could be in the need of wanting to use day care. The population should also have been consulted.”

Contact Officer, Charlotte Walton noted that the consultation has ‘focused on people who use services as they are the views we needed to hear’.

Cllr Hugh Jones also referenced Wrexham Council’s Difficult Decisions Consultation, which the proposals to stop providing the day centre facilities were first mooted.

Assurances that users of the day centre facilities would be accommodated elsewhere were called for by Cllr Alun Jenkins, who said: “The loss of any service, the loss of this is regretful. Saying service isn’t financially viable to us, from service users it is viable to them – it is part of their lives.

“Can we wait until we have made alternative arrangements for these people and the plug can be pulled safely. To me service is gone, decisions made well before today’s meeting, but I do want assurances for those people relying on services.

“Can it be slowed down until we have people into alternatives?

Charlotte replied: “If given approval we got next few months to work with individuals for Their chosen alternative. Some have taken chance to have a look or have moved, some are having their service from us and another provider

“Some have chosen as its where they have their respite and some didn’t want to look until they had a decision, for those who want building based, the list included is the list we’re working through.

“What we’ve found is once people know its closing they are keen to look for somewhere else. We wouldn’t be closing the service if people didn’t have somewhere for people to go.”

Council Leader Mark Pritchard said this was ‘the most difficult decision for me to support’, pointing out the vast changes in society locally, nationally and globally.

Speaking to the two remaining Councillors, aside from the Executive Board members, left after the near 6 hour meeting, “We are sitting here making difficult decisions, and it is a pity there are not more members here to hear this, but I will say this in Full Council as well, we have to make £26m of cuts £5m this year and a rolling £5m in the next few years. It has been clear by Mark Drakeford it will get tougher.

“My mother always said to me, ‘the penny will drop’, for elected members sometime soon, that everything has changed, that the money has gone. We have to look to alternative providers, charities, third sector, private, whoever.

“One member who has now left said earlier that we have no vision or plan. We have a vision and plan. Things will get a lot tougher.”