Five new care homes are in the pipeline for Stafford Borough as part of the county council's Changing Lives programme, the Post can exclusively reveal. And Staffordshire County Council bosses told us this week they will invest an extra £3m in our area between now and 2010. As we went to press, the council was on the verge of deciding the fate of its care homes and day centres across Stafford and the county. A total of 14 are set to close, with eight remaining. Of the 310 residents in care homes, around 110 will stay where they are and two homes in Stafford Borough - The Laurels in Stafford, and Roseneath in Stone --are set to close. Under the new programme, the council wants to close its old and out-dated homes and create more sheltered housing, with services provided by the private sector but paid for by the authority. Groups against the closures have been set up over recent months with campaigners claiming the Changing Lives programme was nothing more than a cost-cutting measure. But speaking on the eve of the Cabinet meeting (Wednesday, November 14) where recommendations to close 14 homes were due to be approved, council chiefs stressed the Changing Lives programme was not a money-saving move. And they revealed new facilities could soon be built in Stafford and Stone for some of the borough's elderly and vulnerable residents. This week Keith Skerman, Interim Director of Performance for Social Health and Care, revealed ambitious plans for the borough, which could include: ll Two 'Extra Care' complexes in Stafford town ll Two small schemes in Stafford for those with severe physical disabilities llAn 'Extra Care' sheltered development in Stone Mr Skerman told us: "The main thing is that people don't get the impression that the council is doing this (Changing Lives) to save money - it's not. "This is about investment. It is about saying it will cost us less but we need that money to do other things for older people - like home care, like Extra Care and that is for a lot more people than we are able to Mr Skerman revealed that although homes in Stafford and Stone had been recommended for closure they could be replaced by state-of-the-art sheltered accommodation complexes within 18 months. "Essentially the future for older people, we feel, is in Extra Care sheltered accommodation," he said. "This is a model that has been tried and tested in lots of other local authorities. It's not something that's 'blue sky', has never been done and we don't know what it looks like." He said people could own, partown or rent an Extra Care flat without having to sell their property, whilst still get the care they needed. "The 'extra' facilities are catering on site, a restaurant, a day centre and a social activity programme of things to do which you might see in a day centre, but this is obviously on site," he explained. "They will also have 24 hour, seven days a week home care staff for those who need that sort of personal care and support and possible help during the night. "And the other thing that makes it preferable compared to a residential home is that it will also act as a resource for the older people in the neighbourhood who could use the restaurant and the day centre." The Post can reveal the council is currently in talks with two housing associations, Beth Johnson and Stafford and Rural Homes, with a view to creating two Extra Care centres within the town. "Both housing associations are in discussions with us," he said. "And we hope to conclude the discussions we have got with them over the next two months. If their plans go ahead those extra care schemes will be "So Stafford, as a borough, will have three Extra Care schemes at a minimum, within the next 18 months, one in Stone and at least two in Stafford itself, so we are really excited and we think that's a really clear message that the county council and other people in the housing world are all pulling together to really do something for older people." He also assured us disabled residents living in two other council-run homes up for consideration by the council's Cabinet would not lose out. "At Co-operative Street, we have got people who live there as permanent residents. It is not a good care home, it is out of date, it is not a very attractive environment for them to live in," he said. "And Glebelands, in the south of the town, is a home that caters for a very small number of people with very severe physical disabilities. "There is no question that they want to stay there - they want to get out." He revealed both homes could be replaced within two years with facilities offering residents their own front doors and accommodation. "We need the decision to close those homes to make those plans, put in the money, get the housing associations to get the housing into place," he said. "For people we have been able to do this for in the past, they have said it is a completely different quality of life. They have nice, new accommodation, they do not have to share the bathrooms which does make a big difference. And people's self esteem, their confidence, goes up with it. "It is a difficult transition for them to make but when they have made it their quality of life is infinitely better and that then encourages them to go on and do other things, like get training and get sheltered employment. "It really opens up the world for them in a way that living in a care home doesn't and what we are doing is saying people who are old or vulnerable or disabled deserve the same quality of life as anybody else." | 
