Residents, friends and relatives have been left bitterly disappointed as Hampshire County Council has chosen to shut down an Andover care home.
Since May, Cherry Orchard on Windsor Road has been threatened with closure and yesterday its fate was sealed after Councillor Felicity Hindson agreed with recommendations to close the home.
The 1970's facility no longer meets modern standards of care and would be too expensive to modernise, that was the message continually put forward at the meeting in Winchester yesterday.
The head of adult social care also repeatedly pointed out that the need for residential places in Hampshire has fallen and that ‘at home' services are the preferred option.
Cherry Orchard will not close until all residents have been found a suitable alternative and Councillor Hindson says there will still be plenty of choice in the town: "It's so important that we offer choice to people, some people will want care at home but some people will be able to move into extra care.
"We have one absolutely new extra care facility in Andover, Lion Oak Court, and this gives people the opportunity to live independently in their own homes and at the same time it has care on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."...read more
http://www.andoversound.com/pages/extranet/cherry-orchard-reaction-i-12162.php
