As previously reported on VB, The Medina Centre, which provides day care for adults with learning disabilities, was given notice by the Isle of Wight council (IWC) last week.
Following meetings this week with staff, carers and stakeholders, the Island NHS and IWC have this afternoon confirmed that the IWC will cease funding services at both the Medina Centre (Newport) and Meadowbrook (Ryde) by the end of May 2011.
With the lack of funding from the council, the NHS has had to consider its position and say they cannot continue to provide the current service resulting in closure of the Medina Centre.
One centre closes, another gets extended
However, the closure will result in the commissioning of a new service which will take place at Meadowbrook, requiring a new extension to ensure it can meet the needs of those with specific healthcare needs.
The planning permission for the extension will be submitted next month and users will be moved over to Medina Centre whilst work takes place from October/November this year.
It’s anticipated that by April 2011, all users will move from Medina Centre to Meadowbrook.
Martin Robinson, Associate Director of Mental Health and Learning Disability Services said: “Change can be difficult but the Transformation agenda is a national one which will see individuals being given greater freedom and choice in the way in which the services they need are provided. The NHS has provided these services under contract to the Council for nine years and we appreciate that many of the service users have been attending Medina Centre and Meadowbrook for many years with staff that have worked there for some time.
“We will be working with the Council to ensure everything is done to make the changes as smooth as possible for services users, their carers and relatives and our staff. It is important that we take the utmost care in implementing these changes. We know that the users of these services like certainty in their daily and weekly routines but there are also real opportunities for them to receive improved and a wider choice of care.”
He went on to say “Whilst in the future we are unable to provide social care we will be meeting the healthcare needs of a number of service users. We estimate that we will be able to offer around 25 places per day (or 50 per day if morning and afternoon sessions are offered), Monday to Friday, at Meadowbrook.”
Image: mcamcamca under CC BY-SA 2.0
