The Review of Residential care will again be considered at the meeting of the Perth and Kinross Integration Joint Board on Friday 23rd March.
The last meeting on 26th January failed to reach a decision on the future of two local care homes. Beechgrove in Perth and Parkdale in Auchterarder are both under threat of closure in a bid to make savings of £696,000.
Residents, families and staff of both care homes have mounted a spirited and popular campaign to keep the homes open and available for those in need. Petitions, social media, letter writing to local representatives and local news stories have all been utilised in efforts to ensure the retention of both care homes.
At the meeting in January, the votes were evenly split regarding the motion to approve the recommendation of the option appraisal and the amendment to defer consideration until more detailed financial information could be obtained. Without a majority, the decision was deferred until the forthcoming meeting on Friday.
A supplementary briefing note has been provided to give more financial information to the board members. This briefing note again recommends that option 4 be approved for implementation.
Option 4 is for the Closure of Beechgrove and the retention of Parkdale as a residential and intermediate care facility. Residents from Beechgrove would be moved to other facilities with both independent sector and Council owned options being possible it would seem.
An appendix to the report also states that newly created integrated care teams will be supporting people to remain at home with enhanced community support. Thus, reducing the requirement for care home places.
Whatever decision is made on Friday, it will have long-reaching consequences for the population of Perth and Kinross.