Stirling Council says: ‘we’re sorry’

SORRY may be the hardest word – but the apologies finally flowed last Thursday for the distress endured by elderly care home residents and their families.

Following the SNP administration’s pledge the previous week to perform a U-turn, Stirling Council formally overturned the decision to close Wellgreen and Beech Gardens care homes.

The residents, their families and staff at the care homes had originally been informed of the closure plans only when the Labour opposition group leaked the information to the Stirling Observer a day before a decisive budget meeting.

And campaigners who fought to keep the homes open were present on Thursday to hear apologies from some of the main players in the original decision.

Council leader Councillor Graham Houston said: “Firstly let me apologise for all the concerns we created by this decision and apologise for our part in that.

“I will leave it to others to apologise for their part in the upset. I do apologise for the way it was handled, but the fact was, that it was leaked in the press before proper consultation took place.”

Community services portfolio holder Councillor Steven Paterson added: “I acknowledge that the decision to close the care homes could have been delivered in a better way and I also share in the administration’s regret for the distress of residents and their families.

“We had not taken other parties along with us in our plans to review care and I regret that.”

The Tories had originally voted with the SNP administration on the closure decision, only to renege on their support days later.

Tory group leader Councillor Alistair Berrill said: “I would like to add my apologies. I very much regret the way this was handled, particularly that it caused distress and alarm. I am very glad that tonight we can undo some of the damage that was done.”

While the Lib-Dem councillors had backed Labour’s stance to save the homes from closure from the outset, group leader Councillor Graham Reid nevertheless also made an apology.

He said: “In the whole mass of detail involved in the budget process, during which along with the Tory group we were trying to find some consensus with the SNP administration, I did not spot this issue. I wish I had and at the time I didn’t.

“With so much reading time, it is sometimes easy to miss things and for that we apologise. But we strive to do our best for the people of Stirling .”

Campaign group CARE also won a significant victory in terms of their future involvement in the wider review of Stirling Council’s social care strategy.

A member of the group will join councillors from all four parties on a scrutiny panel to consider options for a long term care strategy.

The panel will look at issues such as the future care needs of the elderly population of Stirling, the way in which the council delivers these needs, current and future practice in terms of looking after people in their own homes, how best to manage the transition to a new model of care provision and “the financial situation”.

The complex wider review is already sparking wider debate and concerns, more coverage of which the Observer will feature in this Friday’s edition.