East Lothian Courier | News | Mixed response to adult care shake-up

Monday, 8th September, 2008

Published: Thursday, 22nd May, 2008 08:00

Mixed response to adult care shake-up

Comments (0)

Print Article

East Lothian Council’s £6.3million commitment to upgrading Tranent’s adult care services has provoked a mixed response.

It was announced last week that a new combined facility incorporating the services offered by Fa’side Lodge Residential Home and Tranent Day Centre, both currently in Church Street, was set to be constructed in 2011.

Day centre committee chairman Jimmy Ross said that staff and clients were satisfied with the current building – owned by Lothian, Borders and Angus Co-op Society Ltd – and were reluctant to move.

“It was flagged up some time ago that this (redevelopment) was going to happen because the lease here expires in 2009,” he said.

“The thing is that we are quite happy where we are – it’s an ideal situation for us.

“We still don’t know exactly where it’s (the new facility) going to be sited.”

A site has yet to be determined but an East Lothian Council spokeswoman confirmed that developers had examined the current Fa’side Lodge site as an option.

Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council chairman Raymond Strang welcomed the investment but added: “We were given to understand by the previous administration that there would be provision for a room within the new building that would be designated for use by the community council.

“Unfortunately, we have not heard anything else about that since.

“However, it’s pleasing that the commitment made to modernise the care home facility is now in the process of being fulfilled.”

Fa’side Lodge is home to 27 permanent residents and provides two planned respite places and one emergency bed.

One of the main aims of the redevelopment of the home is to meet Care Commission standards which require elderly people to have the option of single room facilities within care establishments.

Fa’side councillor Ruth Currie, cabinet member for adult social services, said: “The residential care home model currently provided by East Lothian Council in Fa’side and our other care homes will become increasingly outdated as we develop services to support people in their own homes for longer, and so we have to plan now for more flexible care delivery in the future.”

Comments