£5.3m Homes Boost For Elderly

St Helens’ plans to redevelop a Larchfield Elderly Persons Home into a state-of-the-art site for independent living received a boost with news that a bid for £5.3 million of grant support has been given the go-ahead by the Department of Health.

Minister Ivan Lewis, stressed the importance of such accommodation, saying: “Extra care housing gives older people who might otherwise consider going into residential care and the chance to lead independent lives in their own homes, with the reassurance of specialist care and support close at hand should they need it.

“We know that people want to live in their own communities and remain at home for as long as possible, because that it what they tell us. We will continue to set a new standard for helping older people to remain independent by enabling them to have choice, control over their lives and privacy.”

Larchfields, in Newton le Willows, has been earmarked as an extra care housing development offering an independent living experience through 90 plus one and two bedded units providing 24 hour support.

The total cost of the project is £14.1 million and St Helens Council had bid for £5.3 million from the Department of Health Extracare Fund.

The bid was put together in partnership with Helena Housing who had agreed plans to develop Larchfield into self contained units styled on similar models at the popular Reeve Court, Rainhill if funding were awarded.

Councillor Suzanne Knight, Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health, was delighted with the news. “This is  tremendous and goes a long way to delivering our vision to modernise services and provide people with the type of accommodation that they want and deserve. We have waited patiently to hear the results of our bid and  were pleased that the Minister for Social Care took the time to come and see for himself the range of services that people can access in St Helens last month'”

In 2004 the Council carried out a major public consultation to develop and vastly improve its services for older people. The consultation revealed that the biggest single issue arising from it was that in the future people no longer wanted to go into residential care, stressing they wanted to retain their independence.

In this Borough wide consultation over services for elderly people in which people were asked what they would like to receive in the future, feedback included:
Enough support to enable them to live in their own homes for as long  as possible;
More choice and flexibility (living in elderly peoples home was the least preferred option);
People wanted services more tailored to their individual needs.

Rob Young, Chief Executive of Helena Housing, said: “This is marvellous news and we are looking forward to working with the Council to progress extra care housing on the Larchfield site. The development will give older people better access to the care and support they need and is a positive step forward in providing accommodation that better suits the needs of local people now and in the future.”

The council is continuing to develop a similar scheme at Ashtons Green Elderly Persons Home, but for people with dementia. The model will be based on the award winning Portland House at Newton le Willows.