Consultation on the future of Boniface House Care Home

Closed 30 Jul 2023

Opened 3 Jul 2023

Contact

01604 883800

care.feedback@westnorthants.gov.uk

Feedback updated 7 Nov 2023

We asked

During July 2023 we launched a consultation to seek views from all stakeholders including residents and residents families about the future options for Boniface House.

This was to review the current and future uses of the home and to enable decision makers to understand the impact of any decision that is made on the future running of the home.

We also engaged with those affected most by any future decision by visiting the home to have a more in-depth conversation about the options available for the home in future.

The options consulted on were to either make no changes to the home, to renovate and refurbish the home, or to commence with a safe closure programme of the home.

You said

There were 42 responses to the consultation, of which 28 people submitted responses online.

The quality of the care and support recieved has been overwhelmingly praised by the residents of Boniface house and their families.

Summary of responses: 44% are supportive of making no changes. Those who were supportive of changes highlighted the need for the facilities in the building to improve and the associated safety issues with the design and layout of the building.

82% of respondents supported the option of the redeveloping the home, on the basis that residents remained in the home whilst building work was carried out. In contrast to this, of the residents and families who responded to the consultation less than half of them agreed or strongly agreed with this approach.

62% of responses, largely from staff and other stakeholders strongly disagreed with the option of commencing a safe closure programme, citing the impact on residents, staff, and the local community as being the main reason for this; the main support for this option came from the residents and families with 42% agreeing or strongly agreeing with this option, with a preference for only moving once and residents needing to receive the best possible care being given as the main reason for this.

We did

All responses have been considered and will help to shape decisions by the council on the future proposals for Boniface House. The findings of the consultation will be considered and presented to Cabinet later in 2023.

The consultation analysis report is available as part of the reports presented to Cabinet and are available to view at West Northamptonshire Council - moderngov.co.uk

Overview

We are reviewing the current and future usage of the residential care service at Boniface House in Brixworth, which is wholly owned by the Council.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) wants to be able to ensure it is in a position to offer high quality care which continues to meet the changing needs of its residents both now and in the future.

The care home has 46 rooms, however it is significantly under occupied as the design of the building means that the facilities available within the home are unable to meet the needs of an increasing number of people who require residential care. Similar to other care settings the home has also experienced recruitment challenges and has been carrying a significant number of staffing vacancies for some time.  

Background

Boniface House has the lowest occupancy across the council’s four internal care homes and the building is in the worst condition.

The building is over 40 years old and whilst it would have been compliant at the time it was built it would not meet today’s CQC accessibility of facility requirements for new build care homes. The home requires increasing intervention just to maintain it as a safe environment. A condition survey in 2020 highlighted that to maintain the home at just a basic habitable standard would require a minimum investment of approximately £1 million over the next 10 years.

In October 2022 the building roof failed leading to an internal leak. The incident led to residents being moved to safe areas within the building, however this identified that the door frames of the rooms were too narrow for modern profiling beds to be moved without being taken apart.  Infection Control audits carried out by CQC have highlighted challenges with the environment and the insufficient facilities to offer personal care to customers. None of the rooms have ensuite facilities and require up to 8 people to share bathrooms reducing the ability of staff in the home to support people’s dignity and respect; there is also reduced accessibility for wheelchairs/hoists. Added to this there is insufficient space for the environment to be improved or increased in size.

The number of people who need registered care home provision has remained at a consistent level through the transition from Northamptonshire County Council to West Northants Council. However, the needs of people in registered care homes are now more complex with an increasing number of people requiring nursing care rather than the residential care which Boniface House is registered to deliver.

Whilst the work force is skilled and able to meet these more complex needs the environment/buildings limit the ability to meet these high needs or vary the CQC registration.

We are seeking views from all stakeholders on the future options for Boniface House to enable decision makers to understand the impact of any future decision that is made.

Proposed options for the future

We have identified three options, listed below, for the future of Boniface House. We are seeking your views on these three options and/or any alternative options that we should consider.

Option 1: To make no change to the existing facilities

It is highly likely that this would result in the utilisation of the care home continuing to decline and the service would have increasing difficulty in providing safe staffing levels.

The condition of the building is likely to result in an issue similar to the water leak which happened in October 2022 and this may result in residents needing to be moved to alternate provision at the point of crisis.

Option 2: Invest in remodelling the home

WNC could invest in the remodelling of the care home to create ensuite capacity and address the current structural deficits the building has which means it is not possible to provide care for people with more complex and higher level needs.

This level of work would require the residents to be relocated for the duration of the redevelopment which it is likely would take a significant amount of time to complete. Any redevelopment of the home within its existing footprint would reduce the number of rooms, thus increasing the cost that would need to be charged for the provision of care.

Option 3: Commence a safe closure programme

This would involve, stopping new admissions to the service and recruitment to any staff vacancies within the home. Residents needs would be reviewed and we would work with them and their families to identify alternative arrangements for their care.

For the affected staff group we would engage the  WNC's appropriate human recourse policies and undertake a process of redundancy or redeployment of staff into our other care settings. As far as possible will seek to resettle people with the redeployed staff into Council delivered homes to support continuity of care, friendship groups and the change in environment and care arrangements as much as possible.

How to have your say

We would welcome your views on future proposals for Boniface House by:

  • Completing the online survey by following the link below

You do not have to answer all of the questions. If you don’t want to answer a question, or don’t know the answer, then move on to the next question.

You can ask a friend, relative or an advocate to help you complete the questionnaire, but please remember that it is your views and your experiences that are important to us, rather than the views of anyone that helps you.

If you have any questions about the consultation, need assistance to complete the online questionnaire or would like a copy of it in another format (including paper, easy read or large print) you can contact us by email, post or telephone. Our contact details are as follows:

Email: care.feedback@westnorthants.gov.uk

Postal address:

  • Consultation on future of Boniface House 2023
  • Assistant Director – Safeguarding & Wellbeing Services
  • West Northamptonshire Council
  • The Guildhall 
  • St Giles' Square
  • Northampton
  • NN1 1DE

Telephone:  01604 883800

This consultation closes at midnight on Sunday 30 July 2023.

For information about how consultation and engagement responses are managed, please see the consultation and engagement privacy notice.

What happens next?

All responses will be considered and will help to shape decisions by the council on the future proposals for Boniface House.Your feedback will be part of a report with other people’s feedback, so you will not be personally identified. The findings of the consultation will be considered and presented to Cabinet later in 2023.   

 

Interests

  • Consultations
  • Adult social services