12:00 Monday 5th November 2012
Mid-day News
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
NEWSREADER: Cabinet Members at Peterborough City Council have unanimously voted to close the last two authority run care homes in the city. Addressing the Cabinet for the vote, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald said that despite the reservations and opposition from the public, the closure was the right decision. He added that while the Council had a moral duty to provide the best possible care to its residents, that did not mean the Council had to provide that care. Mike Francis, who runs a private care service, says the thinking on dementia has moved forward, and Council-run residential care is not always the best option. (TAPE)
MIKE FRANCIS: We actually provide care to people and sports people within their own homes, so not within a residential setting. We’re visiting them in their own homes to help them and support them, and try and help them to lead independent lives. You know, we’ve had quite a lot of success. The thinking on dementia has moved on quite a bit over the last few years or so. But none of it’s straightforward, I have to say. (LIVE)
NEWSREADER: Reacting to today’s decision, care worker Donna Bennett told the Andy Harper Show that moving residents from one place to another is what concerns her. (TAPE)
DONNA BENNETT: Not only will they not be in surroundings that they know, but they won’t have the carers that they know, and the other people that they know with them. So it will all add to the confusion that they will have, and they will end up scared. (LIVE)
NEWSREADER: Five councillors have asked the Mayor to hold an Extraordinary Full Council meeting to discuss the Cabinet’s decision.
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