Rushden specialist 51-bed short-term care centre facing closure as West Northants Council look to drop facility

A 51-bed Rushden care home that provides short stay re-ablement and respite could close after a funding row between the county’s unitary councils.

After the break-up of Northamptonshire County Council (NCC), two care home facilities in the north of the county were taken on by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).

Spinneyfields Specialist Support Centre in HE Bates Way, Rushden, and Thackley Green Specialist Support Centre​, off Lewin Road, Corby are now owned and managed by WNC within the North Northants Council authority.

Staff at Spinneyfields were told in a meeting on Friday that the care facility would be closing in January and they would be redeployed within the authority.

One member of staff said: “The community will now lose 51 care home beds used for discharging patients from both Kettering and Northampton hospitals. This will have a significant impact on all staff and the wider community.

"West Northants Council can’t afford to keep it open. The building is purpose built and in excellent condition. They say they have been negotiating with North Northants Council and health colleagues but no viable plan has been agreed to keep the home open.

"Given the 200 plus patients awaiting discharge at the hospitals and the fact that this winter will be the worst ever for the NHS and social care, this decision appears very short-sighted and only led by finances.

"The county can’t afford to lose any more experienced carers, given its recruitment and retention is already one of the worst in the country.

"All the staff are worried for their futures and for the community they serve. Losing care home beds in a time of local and national crisis is hardly a reassuring plan by this council.”

Spinneyfields is one of four specialist short-term care centres transferred to NCC in 2020 from Shaw Healthcare and subsequently taken on by WNC.

Cllr Matt Golby, cabinet member for adult social care and public health at WNC said: “The specialist care centres provide short-term step-down care and provide social care therapy and rehabilitation following a hospital stay. 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. We are actively looking to see how we can redeploy staff and have enough vacancies in other areas of the service to accommodate all affected.”

WNC say they have established a ‘different model’ at their specialist care centre, Turn Furlong, to better meet the needs of West Northamptonshire residents and support discharge from hospital.

They have been investing in the Reablement West Service to provide a new unit providing short-term health and care services for patients who are not quite ready to return home after a hospital stay.

Cllr Golby added: “This enables patients to access the right care, at the right time in the right place, to better support their recovery journey either closer to home or in their own home where suitable.”

MP for Wellingborough and Rushden, Peter Bone says he has not been consulted despite Spinneyfields being in his constituency.

He said: “The first I heard about it was from two constituents and the Northants Telegraph contacting me. I would have expected to be consulted.

"I am very concerned. When did this go to WNC cabinet and the council? KGH has a problem with what is called colloquially ‘bed blocking’. To have this facility would be better for the patients and better for the hospital. It’s clearly not in the interests of the taxpayer or my constituents.

"Clearly it is an excellent facility. If this is about red tape and pen pushers we need to cut through it. ”

The centre provides short stay re-ablement and respite care for older people including a maximum of 10 nursing care beds. They also provide a 19-bed ‘Discharge to Assess’ service for older people who have had a recent hospital stay and 22 rehabilitation places for older people.

Spinneyfields provides a mixture of single room en-suite accommodation and self-contained flatlets with shared lounges and food preparation areas, adapted domestic bathrooms with most patients saying for a maximum of 6 weeks.

Cllr Helen Harrison, North Northamptonshire Council’s executive member for adults, health and wellbeing, said: “The decision to close Spinneyfields has not been taken by NNC 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.

"Providing the best reablement for residents after they are discharged from hospital is a priority for the council. Whilst reablement in peoples own homes is preferable, and most likely to lead to more positive outcomes for them, there is still a need for some reablement services to be provided in bed-based provision.”