A good place to grow old
Cabinet members have approved the progression of a 10-year programme to modernise and improve care services for older people across Warwickshire.
The Care & Choice programme aims to reshape services countywide, making them more responsive to the needs and wishes of older people, their families and carers.
Billed as one of the biggest Warwickshire County Council projects of recent years, the Care & Choice programme is a response to rising demand for services from an ageing population, and the need to offer local people more choice and control in their later years.
The number of Warwickshire residents over 85 is forecast to rise by more than a third in the 10 years to 2016. The number of people with dementia is expected to rise by more than a quarter over the same decade. So doing nothing is not an option.
“We have to start modernising and reshaping care and support services now,” said Cllr Colin Hayfield, portfolio holder for the Adult, Health & Community Services directorate. “We want to provide more and better care services and make Warwickshire a good place to grow old. What we will provide will offer more opportunities for older people and better meet their needs. This is a good news story and demonstrates we have listened to older people and are responding to what they say.”
AHCS Strategic Director Graeme Betts said: “Times are changing and people nowadays quite rightly expect more from life in their later years. The vast majority of older people want to retain their independence, in their own home, for as long as they can. Going into a residential care home should be one of a range of choices available to older people. What we are seeking to do is to widen the choices available by ensuring that there are extra care housing places available which ensure older people can get the care and support they need without sacrificing self-determination and independence."
A key element of the Care & Choice programme is the provision of ‘extra care’ housing across Warwickshire. ‘Extra care’ is a modern-day version of very sheltered housing – complexes of purpose-built, self-contained flats or bungalows with a team of carers on site and on call 24 hours a day. The County Council hopes to be able to announce proposals for at least two extra care developments very shortly but must talk to people in homes that might be affected first, and launch the full consultation process that will follow.
In the meantime County Council Cabinet members welcomed the progress already made towards modernising care and support services countywide.