Extra £2.3m needed for new Douglas care home

Summerhill View is to replace the existing Reayrt ny Baie Douglas care home

The cost of building a new government-owned residential care home in the Isle of Man's capital is set to be £2.3m more than originally planned.

Summerhill View, which received planning approval in 2018, is due for completion in the spring to replace Reayrt ny Baie.

Health Minister Lawrie Hooper will ask politicians to approve the additional capital spending on the 60-bed home on Victoria Road in Douglas at the April sitting of Tynwald.

The rise from £12.6m to £14.9m has been blamed on several issues, including a rise in construction costs of more than £2m, which were down to ongoing "challenges" within the building material supply chain due to Covid and inflation.

Additional fees

While the furniture and fittings were initially intended to be transferred from Reayrt ny Baie on Albert Square that could not happen as that facility would now remain open beyond the operation of Summerhill View and much of the equipment was "close to end of life".

Late amendments to the designs to fit in with changes to regulations and guidelines on best practice also led to an increase in the fees, and the failure of a "key component" of the new building held up the project.

The department was also contractually required to pay more in consultant fees due to the project delays.

Manx Care has already said that an extra £1.5m in revenue funding would be needed each year to run the larger home, and had been seeking expressions of interest from private operators as a more "cost effective" option.