Helping More People to Live Independently

Cabinet will next week be asked to approve a scheme which will help more people in South Tyneside to live independently, rather than go into residential care.

A report to Cabinet highlights plans to convert Blenkinsop Court in South Shields - currently a Housing Plus scheme - into an interim Extra Care facility. The decision would mean more older people with a care need would be able to retain their independence until a new permanent Extra Care facility is built.

The short-term conversion of Blenkinsop Court into an Extra Care facility would mean that care staff would be on site 24 hours a day. Extra Care schemes are aimed at all adults although primarily they support people with frailty and dementia.

The report says the move to an interim Extra Care facility would be done in two phases. Under the first phase, vacant flats would be utilised and suitable adaptations made to support people discharged from hospital who need some additional support for up to two weeks before returning to their own home.

The second phase would see people with care needs living at Blenkinsop Court on a long term basis. As flats become vacant, they would be adapted and made wheelchair-friendly. There are plans to incorporate assistive technology and to create a secure garden area so people with dementia can live independently without the need for residential care.

The report adds that many of the current residents of Blenkinsop Court are receiving care and with more than a third aged over 80, they would benefit from it becoming an interim Extra Care scheme.

Cabinet will be asked to approve the plans at the meeting on 14 April.