£50m boost for west of England dementia care

New services for people with dementia are being planned in Bath after the go-ahead for a £50 million project across the west. The joint initiative to provide specialist care facilities will also see new care homes being built in Wiltshire.

The bid for Department of Health cash was put together by Bath and North East Somerset Council and Wiltshire Council in the first joint application of its kind.

The new facilities will be built under the private finance initiative system, which has already been used extensively in Wiltshire to provide new school buildings but which has not been widely tested in Bath.

In Bath, 12 one-bedroom 24-hour supported living flats and two two-bedroom crisis and respite flats are being planned.

The councils say the Bath facilities will be at the heart of a centre of excellence for policy, practice and research about supported living for people with mental health problems in partnership with the University of Bath.

Two specialist dementia homes will be built in Salisbury and Wootton Bassett, along with two new centres in Salisbury and Devizes, which will give information, advice and help to patients and carers.

The number of people aged between 65 and 74 is due to increase by 44.8 per cent by 2026, with the 75 to 84 population predicted to grow by 58.6 per cent and the 85-plus age group by 89.4 per cent.

It is expected that the number of people with dementia will rise by 59 per cent over that period.

Construction will begin in April 2014 with all facilities being completed by April 2017.

The preliminary allocation from the Department of Health’s PFI budget will have to be ratified by the Treasury following submission of an outline business case next April – when public spending will be under tight review.

But Councillor John Thomson, cabinet member with responsibility for community services at Wiltshire Council, said: “The strength of this bid comes from the joint working with other local authorities to bring better services for the residents which would have been very difficult to deliver individually. This shows the benefit of the unitary authority which enables us to work across housing, health, social care and planning for the benefit of older people with mental health needs.”

Councillor Vic Pritchard, cabinet member for adult social services and housing at B&NES Council, said: “I am absolutely delighted by this news. This funding will enable us to develop an innovative new scheme for people with mental health needs and to build on the significant improvement achieved in mental health services in Bath and North East Somerset over the past two years.”