A community of some of the most vulnerable adults in Brighton and Hove will be broken up and become more isolated if a day centre closes, according to family and carers.
Their families and carers held a protest outside Hove Town Hall yesterday (Monday 29 June) as members of Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet discussed a new “carers strategy”.
The families and carers object to a proposal to close the Wellington House Day Centre, in Brighton, to save £400,000 a year saying that the respite was priceless for carers.
One said that if even a few families or carers buckled under the strain as a result of the day centre closure, any proposed saving would be wiped out at a stroke.
Councillors have budgeted for the closure which is subject to a consultation and the Labour cabinet has pledged to “reprovide” the service elsewhere.
But the 21 adults attending the day centre have some of the most severe learning difficulties, including autism, sensory issues and epilepsy, and many are unable to speak.
When the budget proposals were under scrutiny, Parent Carers’ Council representative Fiona England said that there were also 17 young people – who are due to finish their full-time education next month – who would be suited to Wellington House.
Lou Vaughan, whose brother attends the centre, was among those outside the town hall, with her mother, as the cabinet meeting took place inside.
She said: “We’re protesting here because the council are holding a meeting today and we want them to know that we’re not happy with them closing Wellington House.
“It’s used by 21 adults with special needs who have interaction with their peers at Wellington House that they don’t get anywhere else – and without Wellington House they’ll be socially isolated.”
The move comes 10 years after Labour justified the closure of the Belgrave Day Centre, in Portslade, by saying that care would be provided at Wellington House instead.
At the cabinet meeting yesterday, an opposition councillor asked how the council could say that it was looking to improve and increase respite provision for carers while proposing to close Wellington House.
Green councillor Raphael Hill made the comments when asking about the council’s new Carers Strategy, called Think Carer – Building a Carer Friendly City, at a meeting of the council’s cabinet today (Monday 29 June).
Cabinet members were told that, currently, 37 per cent of carers did not access any respite support.
Councillor Hill said: “The proposal to close Wellington House Day Centre would seem to reduce access to respite in my view and, moreover, is the view of those protesting against the proposals today.
“How will the administration seek to improve access to respite despite the financial pressures on (adult social care) budgets?
Labour councillor Mitchie Alexander, the council’s cabinet member for communities, equalities, public health and adult social care, said that the consultation on the future of Wellington House was to “reprovide” the respite at the centre in a like-for-like way elsewhere.
Councillor Alexander said: “A closure of Wellington House will not mean a reduction in respite capacity.
“Improving access to respite is a key element of supporting family and friends, unpaid carers. There are a range of options for providing respite, from residential to home-based and a number of routes to accessing them.”
She said that the carers’ strategy committed the council to producing a respite policy, co-produced with carers and carer organisations.
A new information sheet to support carers seeking respite care has been created by the adult social care team, alongside the Carers Hub.
Several of those protesting said that the alternative respite providers had no places and that they were unable to cater for the high level of need and challenging behaviour of some of the most vulnerable adults in Brighton and Hove.
They said that the closure of Wellington House would break up a community of some of the most vulnerable people in Brighton and Hove who would become more isolated as a result.
They added that the move could well backfire financially if just a few families or carers handed the full-time care of their loved ones to the council, requiring costly placements.
One parent said that the day centre provision was in effect being privatised – transferred from direct council control to an independent provider.
Several recalled the promises made when the council closed the Belgrave Centre, in Portslade.
Now, several family and friends said that they were being forced to speak up for people with no voice of their own because there might not be anywhere suitable left for them to go.
I suggest the families move Wellington House activities into Hove Town Hall main chamber. It is supposed to be available for public hire.