Release Date:  26-Jun-2008

Councillors have criticised a consultation being carried out by South Gloucestershire NHS Primary Care Trust on the future of the Orchard View respite care centre in Pill, North Somerset.

Members of the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee say the consultation, which began on May 12th, doesn’t give people enough information about the way the respite service could be retained on the site as part of a wider redevelopment involving an independent sector organisation.

They want the NHS to explore options that could retain the service on the site more carefully and to strengthen the consultation by providing the public with more information about how such an option could be delivered.

The NHS’s current consultation document includes redevelopment as Option B but it suggests that such an approach is unlikely to be viable. However, at their meeting on June 24th, the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee heard that at least one independent organisation believed redevelopment could work if it were part of a wider scheme offering other kinds of care and support.

The Committee agreed that NHS officials had not fully explored the option and that it was, therefore, unable to endorse the consultation document as currently drafted. They called for the Trust’s consultation exercise to be suspended so the material could be updated - or for further information to be provided to those being consulted on the option of a wider redevelopment.

Chair of the Joint Committee, Councillor Sylvia Townsend, said: “The Committee considers it very important that stakeholders have all the relevant information when considering future options for a service. Councillors were unanimous that this additional information is necessary for an informed consultation to be carried and a future decision to be made.”

What is Orchard View?

Orchard View is a respite care service for people with disabilities and is located in Pill, North Somerset.  There are currently around 99 service users receiving a mix of day-care and residential care that ranges from one week a year to eight weeks a year.  Orchard View is owned and run by North Bristol NHS Trust.  Service users come from the North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire areas.

Author:  Simon Caplan or Helen Hewitt

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