Albany Unit for adults with severe learning disabilities saved from closure
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Sue Farrant and parents at Albany Unit
Residents of the Albany Unit, Castletown Way, Sherborne will be given the option of staying in there after all. Many months of pressure from a group of parents led by Mrs Rona Sturmey and with the help of Dr Sue Farrant, Parliamentary Candidate for West Dorset Liberal Democrats, has finally resulted in a U-turn by Dorset County Council and the Primary Care Trust.
At the end of last week, Dr Farrant was told that DCC and the PCT have finally accepted that the residents who wish to carry on living in the houses at the Unit will be allowed to do so if their parents or other advocates believe it to be in their best interests.
For well over a year the Albany Unit has been threatened with complete closure and already many of the residents have been found alternative accommodation elsewhere. Mrs Sturmey’s son Spencer has lived there happily for many years and Mrs Sturmey was dreading him being moved to live a long way away where it would be hard for her to visit him.
She said, “At first they said we could choose where we wanted our sons and daughters to go but that they couldn’t stay where they were. Then they said they couldn’t even stay in Sherborne because the property prices were too high! One of the worst things was the uncertainty of it all because they kept changing the date for closure. It has been such a worry.”
After months of fruitless campaigning by herself and other parents, Mrs Sturmey contacted Sue Farrant to ask if she could help. Dr Farrant contacted the Chief Executive of Dorset HealthCare NHS Trust, the body which currently provides both accommodation and care services at the Albany Unit, the County Council’s Adult Care Services and the Primary Care Trust asking for the situation to be reviewed.
“It seemed to me that the County Council and Primary Care Trust were being far too inflexible in the way they were interpreting government policy,” she said. “The whole idea of the Valuing People Strategy is to expand the life choices of people with disabilities, not to shut off choices. For some residents moving on was absolutely the best option but not for everyone. Some of the parents were very anxious and I know that many of the staff were worried about this decision. I am very pleased indeed that finally good sense and humanity have prevailed, but this is not the end of the story.”
Under the new plans, current residents who wish to stay and some who want to come back, will be housed in the adapted buildings with a specialist housing association as their landlord. Parents will be able to choose between three different care providers, including Dorset HealthCare NHS Trust.
There is still anxiety about where and how residents will be able to access work and day care opportunities. Currently the residents go to the neighbouring ‘White House’ during the day and are joined by other people from elsewhere in the county. That facility will go and the County Council is looking at providing day care in ‘hubs’, possibly in Dorchester and Sturminster Newton.
The campaigners are delighted that the residential element has been saved but say there is still a way to go before they can be certain that the residents have the best possible day care and work options. They are concerned about the highly skilled and experienced staff losing their jobs and are also worried about friendship groups being split up and long-term relationships lost.
Dr Sue Farrant commented, “This is a real victory for parents who refused to sit back and let other people tell them what was best for their families. But the campaign to get the best possible outcome continues!”
