'Significantly underused' Rushden care home set to close

A union said the plan "illustrates the chaos" in Northamptonshire's care services

A "significantly underutilised" care home is set to close just two years after it was taken over by a council.

The 51-bed Spinneyfields Specialist Care Centre in Rushden - run by West Northamptonshire Council - provides care for people after leaving hospital.

But the authority said it proposes to close it after neighbouring North Northamptonshire Council told them it does not need the spaces.

Unison said the plan "illustrates the chaos" in the county's care services.

Spinneyfields was taken on by Northamptonshire County Council in 2020 and transferred to West Northamptonshire Council when the authority split in 2021.

Conservative councillor Matt Golby, cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said: "Good practice in providing step down care for people in hospital is about placing the person as near to their home as possible, so that family and friends can continue to visit with ease and community connection is not lost.

"As Spinneyfields is in Rushden it has typically taken patients from Kettering General Hospital.

"However North Northamptonshire Council have indicated to us that it currently does not need these rehabilitation spaces at the Spinneyfields centre in Rushden, therefore the service is significantly underutilised at a significant cost to West Northamptonshire taxpayers.

"So pending ongoing conversations with partners about intended future use, we have had to start consulting with staff on the closure of the centre."

The home takes patients from Kettering General Hospital

According to the most recent NHS statistics, on 31 October nearly 250 people were waiting to be discharged from hospitals in Northamptonshire.

In a statement, Unison said: "The proposed closure of Spinneyfields illustrates the chaos in care services in Northamptonshire and the inability of West and North Northamptonshire Council's to work together to solve it.

"The plans to close a specialist care centre and make 56 staff redundant come at the same time we have ambulances queuing at the local hospitals because of a lack of beds and patients ready for discharge with nowhere to go."

Mr Golby said: "While we regret we need to look at closing the service at this time, we are keen to retain the staff and we have plenty of similar roles in our reablement or other services that we would be happy to welcome them into."

Unison regional organiser Cathy Symes added that the closure was a "sad indictment of their government's continued failure to address this continued crisis in care".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "We have prioritised health and social care in the Autumn Statement, with up to £7.5bn available over the next two years to support adult social care services and improve access to care for the most vulnerable in our society - the biggest funding increase in history.

"This winter the government is providing £500m discharge fund that can be used flexibly by local health and care systems, targeting the areas facing the greatest challenges and strengthening the sector's ability to recruit and retain staff."

Councillor Helen Harrison, North Northamptonshire Council's executive member for adults, health and wellbeing, said the authority was consulting on its "in-house adult social care provider services strategy".

"The strategy sets out a clear and coherent proposal and aims to place the council and local partners in direct control of delivering the best reablement outcomes for residents in North Northamptonshire, whilst meeting the higher levels of need that it hasn't been possible to meet through the current provision available in North Northamptonshire.

"The decision to close Spinneyfields has not been taken by North Northamptonshire Council as the council has no direct role in running the service, but we will continue to work diligently with our partners to ensure that there remains sufficient reablement provision to meet the needs of our population in North Northamptonshire, when decisions taken by care providers may have an impact on them."