New care home for elderly to open next year

Work on a new 68-room care home for the elderly, boasting “the latest thinking in design”, is set to start later this month.

Care UK and building firm Jenner Group will be working on the site near the William Harvey Hospital, which has been earmarked for development in the council’s local plan.

The three-storey facility will include rooms with en-suite bathrooms and will also include a hairdressing salon, a coffee shop, a cinema, lounges and a dining room. It was given planning approval in July 2016 and the developers have since been working with the council to prepare the land for development.

Care UK communications manager Sheila Roberts said: “The new home will take on board the latest thinking in design, with everything from a coffee shop for lazy mornings with family and friends, to the latest technology to keep residents safe in their bedrooms.”

The company says that building designs for old care homes did not take into account conditions such as dementia but as awareness of the condition has grown in recent years, building design has improved.

Building work is expected to begin this month and the home is expected to open in Septem- ber next year. It will create more than 100 jobs, with recruitment set to begin in spring next year.

The scheme follows the expansion of care home provision since the millennium, with the building of Brabourne Care Centre and Ashminster House in Hythe Road and the BUPA care home at Warren Lodge.

Ashford Borough Council and Kent County Council have also developed schemes including Chamberlain House near junction 9 of the M20, Farrow Court in Stanhope and Danemore in Tenterden.

The authority said that there were 122 beds available to residents in 2016 but the demand is set to rise to 229 by 2020.