Specialist care for older and disabled people in North Yorkshire is set to be transformed with a multi-million pound investment in pioneering new hubs that are due to be built over the next few years.
Vital services provided and commissioned by North Yorkshire Council are faced with increasing demand, especially for specialist dementia and rehabilitation care for people who are being discharged from hospital.
The council’s executive has today (Tuesday, January 7) unanimously approved plans to build up to five new care and support hubs to help to respond to demand for services across the county, with the exact locations yet to be finalised.
The new facilities will replace several of the existing council-run care homes which are currently located in older buildings.
The series of hubs would provide specialist care for up to 250 people at any one time and at a weekly cost which is lower than the current expenditure.
The hubs are aimed at transforming specialist dementia services and they will also enhance intermediate care, which can prevent hospital admissions and provide rehabilitation following a stay in hospital.
The development of services will help to address mounting financial pressures in adult social care.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for health and adult services, Cllr Michael Harrison, said: “We want to provide the very best care and support for people at key points in their lives, whether that’s a hospital stay or a step-change in their dementia. And we need to do so at a time when we face increasing demand and rising costs.
“These issues are being experienced across the country – and are being felt even more acutely in North Yorkshire with a greater percentage of people living here who are reaching advanced old age.
“The proposals to build the care and support hubs are a pioneering way to provide the specialist care that is needed and, at the same time, ensure the best value for our taxpayers.”
The plans for the ambitious strategy to re-design the council’s care provision would see up to £60 million invested in the new care hubs.
The funding model is also set to see significant savings each year in the budget for the council’s adult social care services. The capital programme is expected to be delivered within five years, although the aim would be to build the hubs within a shorter timescale.
The plans would allow specialist residential dementia care to be provided in the purpose-built hubs to meet the needs of people with advanced dementia and other specialist requirements.
Latest figures from the Alzheimer’s Society have shown that there were an estimated 9,272 people aged over 65 living with dementia in North Yorkshire in 2021. By 2030, the figure is expected to have risen to more than 15,000 people, two-thirds of whom are predicted to have severe dementia and will likely need long-term social care services.
The hubs will provide more specialist support in purpose-built facilities for intermediate care for people who are being discharged from hospital for short-term rehabilitation, or to avoid hospital admissions in the first place if possible.
About a quarter of patients leaving hospital required bed-based intermediate care in North Yorkshire in 2021, equating to 1,244 people. By 2023, the figure had increased to 31 per cent, which equated to 1,471 people – a rise of 18 per cent in just two years.
Members of the executive have approved an outline business case for the care hubs, and detailed plans for each of the five sites will now be developed.
Work is under way with the council-owned company, Align Property Services, to look at the design and construction of the hubs. The properties would be designed, constructed and owned by North Yorkshire Council through the authority’s strategic property service.
The proposed replacement programme of existing facilities would be delivered in phases, with the first stage focused on introducing new care and support hubs in the Harrogate and Scarborough areas.
The new hubs will work in tandem with the Extra Care programme launched in North Yorkshire in 2003. There are now 28 housing schemes, with properties for rent and to buy, with more developments planned.
The Extra Care schemes offer both purpose-built housing as well as on-site care workers available around the clock, and some developments also host facilities such as a library, a shop or a café.
The latest annual report from North Yorkshire Council’s director of public health, Louise Wallace, has revealed that 24 per cent of people in the county are now aged 65 or over, compared to 18 per cent elsewhere in England.
It is expected that the number of residents aged over 65 in North Yorkshire will increase by 51,100 – a rise of 31 per cent – by 2043. This would mean a third of the county’s population will be aged over 65, accentuating the pressures on care services.