Rushden care home closure confirmed by council

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

A "not well used" care home is to be closed by a council that took it over just two years ago.

The Spinneyfields Specialist Care Centre in Rushden has provided support for people after leaving hospital.

West Northamptonshire Council said the home's location made it hard to access, with just 12 of its 52 beds being used, and it would close on 29 January.

A regional Unison organiser called the decision "preposterous" during a "crisis in social care".

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

West Northamptonshire Council said other services to support people leaving hospital had been improved

Conservative councillor Matt Golby, cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said: "Our priority is to ensure patients from West Northants can access the right care, at the right time in a place that is as close to their homes as possible.

"As Spinneyfields is in Rushden, it is not easy for West Northants residents to access when they are discharged from hospital, therefore has not been well used in the last year."

He added improvements had been made to a service that helps people recover in their own homes and a new unit had opened in Northampton for patients leaving hospital.

The authority proposed closing Spinneyfields after neighbouring North Northamptonshire Council said it did not need the spaces.

Unison regional organiser Cathy Symes said: "It is clear that the decision to close a rehabilitation centre is preposterous. There is a crisis in social care recruitment and the council are making care staff redundant.

"The current pressure on the NHS is caused by the lack of care beds and here we have care beds being lost because of underfunding, low pay and a fragmentation of services.

"People across Northamptonshire need a well-funded national care service to ensure that centres like Spinneyfields stay open."