Emotions run high in plea to save care home
Three PKC councillors who campaigned to save the Fair City’s Beechgrove care home were denied the opportunity to vote in favour of the status quo at Friday’s IJB meeting.
Councillor Eric Drysdale opened by saying:“There are frail, vulnerable and elderly people, but beyond the emotional argument, there is supply and demand.
“The private care home industry is teetering towards the edge of a cliff, with 380 care homes in the UK have gone into insolvency since 2010.
“The private sector is attracted to wealthier areas, but what will become of those less well off?
“In terms of demand, there will need to be a significant growth in capacity and this is a work in progress. There is going to be a population explosion in the city and this decision is financially driven.
“Most people thrive on social interaction, and care homes provide this. Many people, if they were, say, unsteady on their feet, would become housebound.
“All they would have is the limited time of carers each day who are under pressure to get from A to B. All the technological aids in the world will do little to help that.
“Morally and ethically, we have given these residents a lifetime contract of care. This could be reconsidered in order to save a bit of money in other areas to yield savings, such as prison healthcare.”
Councillor Xander McDade added:“The private sector is clearly fragile one, but this is not a radical change, it is privatisation.
“There is always going to be a need for care homes and we have a rapidly aging population, and we need to look ahead. This is not transformation, it is privatisation. We will not be throwing the budget out of balance by voting for the status quo, as there is already a deficit.”
Cllr Crawford Reid concluded:“We need to be more imaginative. The NHS spends two per cent of its Cllr Eric Drysdale
Cllr Xander McDade budget on delayed discharges - £300 a night.
“GPs are unequivocal that an intermediate care facility open to patients would get a lot of people out of PRI and Ninewells. Then, there wouldn’t be a hole and we wouldn’t be talking about this.”
After the meeting Cllr McDade said:“What is the point in having elected members on the board if they cannot vote? The option of the status quo was in the paper. If it was incompetent, why was it there? It’s a disgrace.
“Given that all we wanted was a vote to approve an alternative option, which was included within the paper, it suggests that the decision was already a fait accompli.
“I think that we really need to consider radically overhauling what is clearly a very undemocratic and unaccountable structure. I shall be talking to my council colleagues over the coming days and weeks to discuss how we might look at major reform of what is quite obviously a seriously flawed system. The fact several voting members didn’t even feel the need to speak on such an important matter is very concerning in itself.”