Rhondda Cynon Taf care homes face closure in £50m shake-up
- Published
Councils are aiming to support elderly people to continue living in their own homes
Four elderly care homes in the south Wales valleys are set to close in a £50m shake-up.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council will shut homes in Church Village, Gelli, Porth and Treorchy while keeping seven open.
An independent review had suggested closing all 11 council-run homes and all its elderly day services.
The authority said it was building five new "extra care" facilities of apartment blocks, where 300 elderly people can live more independently.
The proposals, which follow public consultation, are to be discussed next week by cabinet members, who will consider the closure of:
Bronllwyn in Gelli
Ystradfechan in Treorchy
Dan y Mynydd in Porth
Garth Olwg in Church Village.
The council stresses it wants to keep a presence in the market to provide specialist and complex care, and to avoid complete exposure to the independent care home sector, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Councillor Geraint Hopkins, responsible for adult community services, said the recommendations "seek to provide residents with more choice in the future, across an improved range of options and specialisms, while also creating greater stability in the wider care sector".
"Importantly, officers consider that the proposals have the potential to maximise the opportunity for older generations to live independently for as long as possible into the future," he said.
Construction of extra care schemes is already under way at the former Maesyffynnon residential care home site in Aberaman, and the old Pontypridd Magistrates' Court in Graig.
However Len Arthur, from the Save Care Homes And Centres campaign group, urged council bosses not to "jump the gun" with "piecemeal cuts" before the Welsh Government publishes its promised adult social care policy for the whole nation next year.
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