Hospital Could Be Turned Into Care Home To Ease Crisis

A Lerwick hospital could be transformed into a temporary care home in a bid to alleviate an acute shortage of residential places for old people in Shetland. The islands currently have 11 elderly patients who have been waiting more than six weeks to be discharged from hospital into specialist care.

Today, island councillors will discuss radical proposals to tackle the crisis and eliminate such “bed blocking” by March next year. The proposal to convert Montfield hospital into an interim care home depends on NHS Shetland getting the all clear to relocate 20 long term patients from Montfield to neighbouring Gilbert Bain Hospital.

Councillors are also being asked to find an extra £730,000 per annum to pay for running the proposed care home, by making cuts in other care services. This would come on top of an estimated £1 million capital cost of converting the hospital into a care home, which would probably be joint funded by the local NHS.

If approved, the controversial plan will help the council address the growing pressure on care services from its rapidly aging population. Later this autumn the local authority will hear the outcome of two reviews assessing future demand for social care in the isles, which is expected to require millions of pounds in additional funds.

The council already knows that Lerwick needs more residential care places, that Isleshavn care home in Yell needs to be rebuilt and that it must replace the dementia unit at Viewforth, in Lerwick.

Executive director of education and social care, Hazel Sutherland, said yesterday: “We have people in the system now who we need to look after now. Providing new facilities takes time, so developing Montfield as an interim care home appeared as a good opportunity that suits the council and NHS Shetland.”

In her report, she added: “The proposals conflict with current council financial policy, and can only therefore have any hope of proceeding if there are compensating cuts in other areas of department spending.” Ms Sutherland is asking councillors to approve her proposal “in principle”, allowing her to develop it for final approval in December this year.