£44m funding approved for new council care home

Council deputy leader Teresa Murray says the new home will "set a gold standard for care"

Local authority plans to build and operate a care home have moved forward after £44m of funding was approved.

Medway Council is set to build an 80-bed facility on the southern side of the Innovation Park Medway (IPM) site.

Labour councillors called the plan a "bold" way to increase and improve care home provision.

But opposition councillors said the cost was too great considering the authority's finances.

The care home is due to have 40 beds for people with dementia, plus 40 others to help those returning from hospital to their homes.

Residents waiting for care

Deputy council leader councillor Teresa Murray said: "If you're concerned that we can't afford to do it, let me tell you: we can't afford not to.

"We are struggling to accommodate our residents who have sadly become complex dementia patients needing specialist residential care.

"We have people waiting every week to find care home places that they need, casting them and their families into stressful circumstances.

"The new care home will... set a gold standard for social care, and make the whole system work more effectively," she added.

• Care home plan expanded to include extra support

Conservative councillors called the estimated £37m cost to build the care home, plus £7m to deliver the rest of the southern part of the IPM site, too much.

Councillor Gary Hackwell said: "The estimated interest for these loans is expected to be £2.7m a year.

"Simply put, we can't afford it."

He said the current estimate for capital borrowing this financial year is £655m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We cannot sustain this level of borrowing, the credit cards are maxed out."

Ms Murray previously said she intended to get work started early next year.