Community
Replacement Care Home Axed
The building of a new £12.75m facility was approved by the DHSC in 2018
Plans to construct a new residential home to replace Ramsey’s Cummal Mooar will no longer be going ahead, as a review of the service requirements takes place.
The building of a new £12.75m facility was approved by the DHSC in 2018, to be built on land at the Cooil Ny Marrey site on Waterloo Road in Ramsey.
Manx Care has confirmed that the existing home will close within two years, before a new facility is available in the north of the island.
It said: ‘In this instance, we will work with residents and their families to ensure that they are moved to appropriate alternative accommodation (be that Manx Care or private).’
In 2020, then DHSC Minister David Ashford said that designs for a new home were underway as Cummal Mooar had reached the end of its useful life.
Manx Care said: ‘However, for a number of reasons including a significant increase in construction costs, the reduced demand for residential care and the need to review the long-term needs of services in the North of the Island, Manx Care has decided to not proceed with this development. The most recent estimate for the construction had risen to in excess of £13m, almost doubling the initial estimate.’
Back in January 2022, Manx Care gave a price tag of £12.75m.
The health and care provider added: ‘Analysis of the future direction of residential care has shown that facilities such as Cummal Mooar will not be so widely required going forward, as Social Care colleagues work to ensure that individuals are not prematurely accommodated in long-term care.
‘Instead, the aim will be to support people at home as far as possible, through a “Home First” approach, which allows people to stay safe and as independent as possible at home. Therefore, replacing the facility with its modern equivalent would not be the most effective use of funding at this time. Those requiring long-term care will be more likely to require more specialist care (for example for those living with dementia or requiring long-term nursing care).’
Manx Care said it will be ‘engaging with colleagues, residents and their families, and members of the public to plan for the future – there will be a facility in the North in the coming years, but we cannot currently confirm what this will look like as we need to listen to the views of local people’.
