Arthur Neal care home closure agreed

THE closure of a Mackworth care home has been approved by councillors despite its residents and their relatives being unanimously opposed.

Derby City Council’s cabinet voted to close Arthur Neal care home last night, to the disappointment of relatives of the 15 elderly residents.

It will be replaced by an extra-care complex, which will give elderly residents individual flats with the benefit of 24-hour care.

Ian Pearch attended the meeting because his mother, Christina, 82, lives at Arthur Neal House.

She will have to be moved out, along with the other residents, within about a year so work on the extra-care site can begin.

Mr Pearch said: “All we heard at the meeting was political arguing, with one lot having a go at the other, when it is the lives of 15 people that we are talking about.

“It is not just those residents either – there is a day centre on the site which elderly people go to for lunch which will be lost.”

Councillor Ruth Skelton, cabinet member for adult services and health, said the council would try to move people into places at other homes as sensitively as possible.

“Although some people will be opposed to this decision, the wider community has been hoping for such a scheme as this for a few years,” she said.

Labour group leader Councillor Chris Williamson called Ms Skelton a “hypocrite” for backing the care home closure after she opposed his group’s proposed closure of Bramblebrook House care home in Mickleover last year.

“I can’t believe Councillor Skelton’s breathtaking hypocrisy,” he said. “Why are the people in Arthur Neal any less deserving than the people in Bramblebrook?”

Trade union Unison said after the meeting that it was against the closure of Arthur Neal.

Assistant Derby branch secretary Nicole Beresford said: “Unison is opposed to this closure, and that opposition goes for any proposals to sell off residential care homes.”

As well as voting to close Arthur Neal House no earlier than January next year, the cabinet also approved an overall strategy for care homes and the need to reduce the number of care spaces in the city.

It means two care homes will be replaced with specialist dementia care homes and one made into a dedicated intermediate care home for those people who need rehabilitating out of hospital.

The remainder will be looked at to see if they can be turned into extra-care sites.