Elderly care homes facing closure

The council believes the private sector could provide better homes

A council is considering closing down its care homes for the elderly claiming they are too expensive to run.

Durham County Council believes it could save £3m a year if it closed down its nine remaining homes, which have 174 residents and are only two-thirds full.

But a spokesman stressed no decision had been made and the phase-out would take at least a year to complete.

It believes the private sector could provide better residential accommodation for the elderly.

The council also believes that by pulling out of residential care it would have the money to provide an extra 2,000 home care hours a week and an extra 78 care beds.

'Foot the bill'

The council's acting Director of Social Care and Health, Debbie Jones, said: "If, after consultation, the closures go ahead, residents in county council homes would be offered alternative accommodation in the independent sector.

"This would be a sensitive, unhurried programme that would take full account of their individual needs and wellbeing and take up to a year to complete."

Members of the authority's cabinet are due to meet next month to discuss the closures.

Mrs Jones added: "Feedback from local and national research confirms that as people grow older, they increasingly want to do so in different circumstances to their parents and grandparents.

"They want to stay at home longer and retain their independence rather than go into a residential home.

"We have got to develop ways to enable them to do that and find the resources to foot the bill."