Care cuts as council saves money - claim

COUNCIL cuts will dramatically reduce the amount of day care offered to older people, it is claimed.

Unison says the clients at a Clifton day centre have been told they will lose out when Nottingham City Council implements job cuts and closes the facility they use.

Earlier this year, the city council proposed shutting Fairham Day Centre in Clifton as part of a package of measures to balance the authority's budget.

An alternative facility, Long Meadow, in The Meadows, is being offered to clients and the council insists it will continue to offer older people the same level of service.

But Jean Thorpe, a spokesman for the city council branch of Unison, said some clients will not be able to travel that far.

She added: "Service users have been promised they would not suffer any detriment as a result of the cuts. The service they get is based on the assessment of their need. Many get three days at the centre but what they are being offered if the centre closes is a significant reduction."

A demonstration has been organised in Southchurch Drive, Clifton, on Saturday, to protest at the proposed closure.

Union leaders were furious with Nottingham city councillors when news of job cuts emerged.

However, Ms Thorpe said: "Initially they said there would not be cuts to front line services or workers, they then rowed back and said there would be no cuts to services. This is clearly a major front line cut."

Osteoporosis sufferer Amy Aitchison, 86, has used the centre for five years, usually for two days a week.

She said: "It will have a big impact on me if Fairham closes. I don't know how I would get to The Meadows. It would be out of the question for me.

"I really enjoy going to Fairham. The council says we need new toilets at the centre but that is rubbish and they say we need a bath, but it is day care."

Mrs Aitchison added: "It is annoying, the council can find money for that beach in Old Market Square but not for us."

One member of staff at Fairham, who did not want to be named, said: "I have been told by service users that they have been allocated one day at Long Meadow as opposed to the normal three they have had at Fairham. They say nobody is listening to them. They say the council is telling them it is not taking the service away, but clearly they are. People are devastated."

However, Director of Adults Services at the council, Elaine Yardley, said: "People attending day centres are assessed for their daycare needs and the new arrangements will not change that in any way, so people will receive the same number of daycare days as they do at the moment.

"For some people it will mean a journey they don't currently make and so we will monitor how people settle in to the changed arrangements.

"We will continue to work with individuals to monitor their changing needs and will seek to support them to find and fund alternatives that meet their wishes.

"In the Clifton area we have recently invested in adult care facilities at Lark Hill, Laura Chambers Lodge, Clifton Cornerstone and the Summerwood day centre next to Fairham."