Residents of closing care unit yet to get new home

It has not yet known where the residents will live when their care home closes

Residents of a Surrey care home for people with learning disabilities do not yet know where they will live when the service provider pulls out in June.

Mencap said running Jutland Place, in Egham, has cost more to run than it has received in funding from Surrey County Council for the past three years.

The charity is withdrawing its services from Jutland Place on 9 June. A replacement provider has not been found, so the care home will close.

The council said it is working to find new accommodation for the six residents, but their families fear their loved ones could be moved away from their support networks.

Julie Stevens, who has Downs syndrome, has lived at Jutland Place for 27 years.

Her sister, Susan, said closing the home is “cruel and unfair”.

She told BBC Radio Surrey : “It’s looking like they’re going to be moved out of the borough of Runnymede, dispersed across the county of Surrey and split up.

“They’re going to lose their lifetime friends that they’ve lived with and they won’t understand what’s happening to them.”

Susan said converting the care home into a supported living facility would reduce running costs, but the council has ruled that out.

Building's future undecided

Sinead Mooney, Surrey County Council’s cabinet member for adult social care, said: "Some providers are interested in supporting at least three people in a new and more appropriate setting, to retain friendship groups."

The council is meeting with Mencap to discuss what will happen if new homes for all six residents have not been found by 9 June.

Mencap acting chief executive Jackie O'Sullivan said: “We will do whatever we can to provide a smooth and supportive transition for the people at Jutland Place."

Runnymede Borough Council, which owns the building, said it had not decided what to do with the property once it becomes vacant.