On Thursday the Isle of Wight council issued a press release advising that residents of Ryde House – a home that cares for people with learning disabilities – were about to receive a seven day eviction notice from the private care home owner.
In response, Ryde House Group has issued the following statement through its solicitors:
“The local authority has assessed the care needs of the people affected as being lower than the level we currently provide to them. As the levels of care and support we currently provide are required to maintain good outcomes for these members of our community, we have disagreed with the local authority’s assessments, and after several months of discussions, we were informed the local authority would not be changing their position.
“We are, and always have been, passionate about delivering excellent quality care and support, and maintaining safety for the vulnerable people we support. Our aim is to ensure their well-being and best outcomes are maintained. We could not however continue to provide this standard of care and support if we were to agree to the assessments by the local authority.”
They went on to explain,
“It is therefore, with great reluctance and regret, that we have informed the council of our intent to give formal notice, in accordance with the terms of the local authority’s contract.
“Many months of time and effort on both sides have gone in to trying to avoid this situation, but unfortunately we are left with limited options if we disagree on the level of care a person requires to lead as happy and normal a life as possible.
“We have made our position clear to the council that the people affected by this notice do not need to move out and can continue to live with us indefinitely as long as we are able to agree the correct care levels to ensure that we can maintain their safety and well-being.”
