Potential Lifeline Considered for Arthur Jenkins Care Home as Closure Looms

A CARE home that’s set to close in December could be handed a potential lifeline with a takeover being considered. 
Housing association Hafod announced at the beginning of September it intended closing the Arthur Jenkins care home that has operated in Blaenavon for around 50 years. It confirmed it had given Torfaen Borough Council the required three months notice of intended closure. 
Since the closure decision was confirmed banners have been draped around the gates of the home, and across the town, in a show of support for residents and staff and calling for the home to be kept open. 
Questions over the decision were raised at Torfaen’s full council meeting, at the Civic Centre in Pontypool, on Tuesday, September 17 where the Labour cabinet member for social services, David Daniels, said a potential new operator has shown an interest in taking on the home. 
Councillor Daniels confirmed: “Hafod have received speculative interest from another care provider.” 
But he said the council’s ongoing work to find places in other homes for Arthur Jenkins’ exisiting residents will have to continue while talks between Hafod and a potential new operator take place. 
A new provider would have to achieve registration with Care Inspectorate Wales a process which can take 12 to 14 weeks and as a result the council has asked Hafod if it is willing to keep the home open until mid February. 
Cllr Daniels said it “wouldn’t be appropriate to pause” work on finding new accommodation for residents as homes will only hold places for a short period. 
He said: “If we did this we could spend the whole notice period exploring speculative alternatives to closure only to find it unviable, this would not be acceptable or leave us with enough time to find appropriate alternative homes for residents in the small amount of time remaining.” 
Cllr Daniels said extending the notice period to February would allow the council to stand down current offers of housing from other providers until the Care Inspectorate has made a decision on registration, which the council hopes would be before Christmas. 
Other issues that need to be considered if a new operator is take over include the transfer of staff and Hafod’s long lease on the council owned building, thought that does allow it to transfer the lease which Cllr Daniels said he didn’t consider a potential problem. 
He said the council would also have to be confident the new provider could provide an appropriate level of care. 
Answering questions from Blaenavon members the councillor said the authority had been aware of low occupancy rates at Arthur Jenkins, as part of its usual contact with all local care homes, but the closure decision was made by Hafod alone in early September. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​