Fife Labour leader Alex Rowley has accused Fife Council of having a “knee-jerk” reaction to the looming residential care homes crisis.
Speaking on the options being put forward by Fife Council to close some or all of the council residential homes, Mr Rowley said, “The future need for elderly care is a massive issue for all councils and the real disappointment in Fife is that the SNP and Lib Dem councillors have failed to get a grip of the issue.
“As a result they are now knee jerking towards panic closures, mass redundancies and unnecessary anxiety for the residents of these 10 council homes.
Councillor Andrew Rodger also accused the council of making a policy U-turn and leaving the most vulnerable in society facing a winter of worry and uncertainty.
Kirkcaldy Labour MSP Marilyn Livingstone warned the council not to make any rash decisions about the provision of residential care.
“There are pressures on this key sector and we must enter into dialogue and have open, transparent discussions with staff before Fife Council makes any decision it may later regret.”
It was revealed on Wednesday that the local authority is considering a proposal to pull out of the residential care home sector altogether by closing all 10 of its homes and cancelling two projects for homes in Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline.
The radical cost-cutting measure is being considered as the council struggles to make up for an estimated £200 million shortfall in its 10-year capital spending plan.
According to the council, it would save £39.6 million straight away and generate around £1.3 million a year in further savings.
However, cancellation of the two replacement local authority care homes already in the pipeline could effectively cost almost £900,000 for little to no return, according to Fife Council estimates.OptionsThere are two other options on the table.
One of these is closing seven of the homes and pressing ahead with plans to build a care home to replace Appin House and Raith Gates in Kirkcaldy and another in Dunfermline to replace Matthew Fyfe.
And the possibility the council might keep its commitment to building five homes by 2020 to replace its ageing facilities is still an option, at least on paper.
Councillor Rodger, who is the independent councillor for Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss villages, said yesterday, “While bankers and financial workers go and take Christmas holidays, probably abroad at some exotic resort, elderly people will be left with this hanging over them,” he said.
“There is going to be a strain on these families and relatives. If this is what the big society is about, I have another idea.”
He added, “People in these homes and their relatives will have a miserable Christmas wondering if they’re going to have a roof over their heads after the New Year.”
Mr Rodger suspects the council is intent on privatising care home services and said he would fight to save homes facing closure such as Methilhaven, which he said provided excellent care for the elderly.
Mr Rowley said he had been asking “for months” for a comparison in building costs in the private sector.
“In my own ward a purpose built 40-bed home specialising in dementia care was built this year costing £3.2 million and yet these council homes are to cost £8 million each,” he said.
“The council pay themselves £808 per week to look after a person in their care compared to the £474 a week they pay for a residential place in the private and independent sector home.
“This is a difference of £334.84 a week between the council and the external provider.”FearsHe also voiced his fear for the workforce caught in the middle of the row.
“There are 478 workers in the care homes and day care service who have given years of dedicated service and they deserve better than what is being proposed,” he said.
Social work and health committee chairman Tim Brett said, “No decisions have been made yet in relation to this. Our top priority continues to be the care and well being of our service users.”We have already contacted the people who live in our homes and use our services, their families and our staff to let them know that we are discussing these options. I am sure that Councillor Rowley would have been quick to criticise us if we had not done this.”
He added that the council indicated at the time of February’s budget meeting that it would be carrying out a review of the arrangements for residential care “and this we have done.”
“Following a decision at my committee next week we will now carry out a full consultation on one or more of these options before a final decision is taken next year.”
Planning consent has already been granted for a 48-bed home north of Ostlers Way in Kirkcaldy and a 32-bed home on former school grounds at Blacklaw Road, Dunfermline.
However, if the council decides it should no longer directly provide the residential care of older people who need it, both building projects will be terminated and the land put up for sale- despite the £900,000 already being spent on them.
It is understood private organisations have shown an interest in acquiring the sites where planning permission has been approved for council provision.
The future of north-east Fife’s two council-owned care homes will be fought for if plans to axe them are pressed ahead with.
Anstruther’s Ladywalk House and Northeden House in Cupar, both capable of housing 40 residents, could be shut as the council tries to save cash.UnacceptableKilrenny, Anstruther and District Community Council secretary Martin Dibley said, “This is totally unacceptable. People who live out their last days in the East Neuk like to live in the East Neuk so that their relatives can come and visit them.
“If they can’t, what sort of council have we got?
Closing Northeden would be disastrous for residents, according to Cupar Community Council health spokesman Pete Cura.
He said, “We fought against closures way back in the 1980s and I would hate to have to do that again but I certainly would be against its closure and am almost certain everyone else on the community council would think likewise.
Cupar independent councillor Bryan Poole said, “I would like to see a breakdown of the costs to see why a place in a council home is so much more expensive than a place in a private home.”
East Neuk and Landward UKIP councillor Mike Scott-Hayward said closure of council-run homes was “inevitable” but added, “The transition has to be handled carefully so individual clients don’t suffer.”