This is a statement I made in my capacity as Healthwatch Birmingham Chair, which was published on the Healthwatch Birmingham website:
Healthwatch Birmingham shares the widespread concerns about Birmingham City Council’s (BCC) decision to close four day centres.
Our research underlines how valuable day centres are to the often vulnerable people who use them and their carers. They provide important friendships with other service users and staff, alongside giving carers much needed breaks from caring for loved ones.
We understand that the decision is in response to the extreme financial pressures facing BCC and has not have been taken likely. However, the impact on service users is potentially so serious that it is imperative the plan receives the most thorough scrutiny. Healthwatch Birmingham is disappointed that the government Commissioners overseeing BCC’s affairs have rejected the request for further investigation of the proposed closures. We hope that the Commissioners will reconsider their position.
Vulnerable people and their carers are already anxious about these proposals. Effective communication is vital, including information about available alternatives if closures go ahead and how service users can travel to them, alongside signposting towards mental health support for people facing a potentially traumatic disruption to their relationships and routine. Without certainty about these matters, people in already difficult situations will be at higher risk of isolation and neglect.
BCC also needs to understand the impact on staff. The assurance that all staff will have the opportunity for redeployment is welcome, but there is a danger of the city losing valuable workers highly skilled in helping vulnerable people.
In addition to these concerns about services becoming overstretched, there must be support for current users of alternative centres who may have familiar surroundings and friendships disrupted by an influx of new faces.
Our research also noted the benefits day centres provide for wider society, including reducing pressure on the NHS by helping people look after their health and enabling carers to continue in employment. As the voice of everyone who uses local health and social care services, Healthwatch Birmingham is committed to understanding the impact of cuts on services and encourage people to tell us how changes are affecting them. Birmingham citizens need to know that BCC is both providing a safety net for those immediately affected by these proposed closures and is also planning to ensure an already struggling local health and social care system will be able to cope.
– Richard Burden, Chair, Healthwatch Birmingham
For more context and background, see this Birmingham Mail article.
