Update 21.01.20 – Toby has arranged a meeting at The Spinney Care home for Friday 24th January. He will be meeting with Tanya Henson, Service Director at Derbyshire County Council, and management from the care home.

Derbyshire County Council have announced plans which could the closure of seven care homes in Derbyshire, including The Spinney Care Home in Brimington. The plans would affect over 200 elderly residents and 300 staff.

Full story can be found on the Derbyshire Times website https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/health/seven-derbyshire-care-homes-risk-closure-1368039

Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield said:

“The proposed closure of 7 out of the 23 local authority care homes, including The Spinney in my constituency, is already causing a great deal of worry and stress for the residents of the homes and their families, such as Pete and Val Brassington who I met today. Pete’s mother, Rhoda Brassington, will be 101 years old next month and she is settled and happy at The Spinney.

The County Council are telling me that the cost of bringing these homes up to standard is not practicable. I am not convinced that this is the case, but even if it were, then the Council need to be creating new facilities before they close these ones.

The Council admit that they don’t have enough domestic care beds to house all those who would be displaced if these homes were closed. They also say that they want to move towards a ‘more independent model’ – already there are many people who are very frail by the time they are admitted to a care home, and so this suggests that once again the County Council is planning to cut vital services to the most vulnerable.

I am also concerned that the Council are engineering the situation to create reasons for the closures. They seem to be suggesting that there isn’t the demand for places at The Spinney and that it is under-occupied, but information I have been given suggests that the Care Home has been instructed for some time not to take on new residents. I will be visiting The Spinney next week to discuss these issues and the proposals with the staff and residents.

I will be opposing these proposals and fighting to keep The Spinney open. We need more care homes in Derbyshire to help address the health and social care crisis and to stop bed clocking in NHS hospitals.”