Derbyshire County Council have written to local MPs informing them that a new consultation will begin in November that will look at closing seven Derbyshire care homes.

Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield, said “Before the last election Cllr Lewis pledged that “no care home shall close without another to replace it”. Labour feared at the time that the Tories were only shelving the plans for the election and would revive the closure plans when they were safely ensconced behind their desks at County Hall again.

This cynical move sadly proves our fears were right and is a massive slap in the face to carers, residents and families The proposals were wrong in 2020 and are wrong now.

The care homes being proposed for potential closure are

• Ladycross House, Travers Road, Sandiacre
• Beechcroft, Nursery Avenue, West Hallam
• East Clune, West Street, Clowne (including East Clune Day Centre)
• Holmlea, Waverley Street, Tibshelf
• The Spinney, Landsdowne Road, Woodlands, Brimington
• Goyt Valley House, Jubilee Street, New Mills
• Gernon Manor, Dagnell Gardens, Bakewell

The County Council’s briefing to MPs has outlined three options, two of which would see the care homes closed without replacing them.

The options being proposed for consultation are:

• Rewire and carry out major works to refurbish the homes (this option would require residents to move out for a period of up to 40 weeks)
• Close the homes and support residents to move to other local, suitable alternative provision
• Close the homes and support residents to move to any suitable available alternative provision

The consultation is proposed to take place from 22 November 2021 and end on 14 February 2022.

Toby added, “These proposals are going to cause a great deal of concern for residents and their families, who have already been through such a terrible ordeal over the last two years due to coronavirus. I also feel extremely sorry for the staff at these homes who once again are worried for their jobs, which must be particularly upsetting when they worked on the frontline of the pandemic.

The Tories pledged not to close any homes without replacing with a new one and I urge them to honour this pledge. We need more care home places in Derbyshire to ensure we can meet the needs of residents and stop bed-blocking in hospitals.

Over 9,000 people signed a petition opposing the closure of The Spinney and the other 6 care homes. I hope they will join me again in fighting to keep these homes open.”