Cromer care home is not needed, council tells protesters

Conservative North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker was at the march on Saturday and he has called for the council to reconsider its decision

A county council has defended its decision to close a care home that specialised in caring for people leaving hospital.

The Benjamin Court reablement unit in Cromer, Norfolk, closed in June.

About 100 people marched in the town on Saturday calling for it to be reopened.

Norfolk County Council, which ran the unit, said more people wanted care at home since the pandemic and that retaining staff was "difficult".

The home offered beds for people aged over 65, and with dementia, who had left hospital but were not ready to return to their own beds.

The campaigners want Benjamin Court to be reopened as a convalescence service

March organiser Martin Booth, secretary of North Norfolk Trades Union Council, said: "At a time when there are real problems with discharging patients from big hospitals like the Norwich and Norfolk, it seems like madness to be closing down a facility like Benjamin Court.

"We are calling for Benjamin Court to be kept within the NHS and for a proper convalescence and reablement service to be reopened there."

An online petition calling for it to be reopened has collected more than 1,000 signatures.

Conservative North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker was at the march and has called for the council to reconsider.

Conservative cabinet member for adult social care, Alison Thomas, said: "Research has shown that you can recover much faster at home in a familiar environment, as your own bed is the best bed for recovery.

"Hospitals are where you get treated and home is where you get well."

NCC said the shift to home care, by its Norfolk First Support service, meant it supported "an estimated 1,500 more people return home" in 2023 compared with last year.

Grays Fair Court in Costessey, near Norwich - which likewise was offering social care support rather than medical or nursing care - was also closed by NCC.

The council said it was "difficult to recruit and retain staff" and the units had both been running at half capacity - with about eight beds in use.

The NHS owns Benjamin Court, but the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board declined to comment when asked about its future.