The new £9million Integrated Care Services Hub, currently under construction in the grounds of South Tyneside District Hospital, is on schedule to be completed by late Spring 2016. For anyone in the area affected by dementia, this will come as welcome news as services should be available there from early Summer onwards.
Coun Mary Butler, South Tyneside Councils lead member for adult social care and support services, and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trusts chief executive Steve Williamson. Photo courtesy of South Shields Gazette
The facility, to be called Haven Court, will provide residential, rehabilitation and respite care, as well as information and support to older people and their carers. The name was chosen specifically to reflect the desire to make the facility a centre of excellence where older people can come to get the help and support they need to live as independently as possible, for as long as possible.
The facility which will be the biggest of its kind in the country when it opens, is being built by South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of South Tyneside Council.
The building has been designed to be as dementia-friendly as possible and to be flexible enough to meet the differing clinical needs of the area's older population.
Features will include “memory boxes” – a box of personal objects and mementoes - to help people find their rooms and stimulate memory, and door viewers to allow a discreet method to view and be viewed by staff, providing a safe and secure environment. Colour schemes will help people find their way around and support independent living.
The intention is that Haven Court will bring together key health and social care organisations, along with voluntary sector agencies, to improve the range, quality and co-ordination of services, particularly for people with dementia, and provide high quality preventative support to enable them to live in their community for longer.
As well as health and social care expertise ‘wrapped around’ the older person, there will also be specialist day care. Long-term residential and nursing care will be available, along with beds for short breaks when carers are on holiday or before going back to live at home. There will be rooms for medical consultations and assessments of people’s needs and there will be information and advice on using technological aids to support independent living.
“We are very proud to be in the position of providing the Borough with what will be a centre of excellence for the future care and support of older people.".
South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust
The decision to invest in the new building comes in the light of an ageing population. Currently older people make up 18 per cent of the Borough’s population but this is estimated to rise to 21 per cent by 2021. By 2030, there is expected to be a 50 per cent rise in the cases of dementia and a 138 per cent increase among those aged over 90.
South Tyneside Council member for Adult Social Care
Read more at: www.shieldsgazette.com 24/12/15 and www.shieldsgazette.com 31/12/15
