What we're consulting on – Leighton Buzzard Day Centre for Older People
Consultation closed: Thursday, 7 July 2022
Consultation opened: Wednesday, 6 April 2022
We want the best possible quality of life for all our residents and are committed to developing and enhancing day services for older people and adults with disabilities. We own and operate 7 day services, 4 of which are for older people and the remaining three for adults with disabilities.
In early 2016, we began the process of developing the future day service offer for older people and adults with disabilities. This is a two-stage process and stage one involved agreeing key components and principles which was a joint vision between us and those that use the service to outline what the future day offer should deliver.
Stage one of this project is now complete and we are at stage two, which involves looking at each of the services individually.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we began reviewing the Leighton Buzzard Older Persons Day Centre (“Leighton Buzzard Day Centre”) which included a 12-week public consultation on the future of the centre. The consultation began on 14 February 2020 however, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the day centre was temporarily suspended, as was the consultation on its future. The day centre has since been re-opened and some customers are being invited back, on a socially distanced basis, depending on individual circumstances. All existing customers continue to receive support from the Care and Support Team.
We believe we can offer better opportunities to Leighton Buzzard Day Centre customers and are therefore restarting the consultation on the future of the day centre.
If you completed the questionnaire previously your response will be included in a separate report although we encouraged you to respond again, particularly if your views had changed as a result of the pandemic.
Having looked at a number of options for the future of the centre, our preferred option at this time is to relocate the current service for existing customers to community space at Marigold House, the new care home being built on the former police station site at Hockliffe Road, Leighton Buzzard. We would then close Leighton Buzzard Day Centre.
The new care home development is still some way off and it is expected to be open in spring 2023.
As well as the older people who attend Leighton Buzzard Day Centre, a Community Opportunities Group (COG) for customers with learning disabilities was based at the centre three days a week. The centre was a ‘touch down’ base for the group and it spends a lot of time out in the community.
If the day centre were to close, an alternative ‘touch down’ base would be required for the COG. During the consultation period, we continued to work with COG customers to identify what they like to do and where they could run activities from, if the preferred option is approved. We're committed to keeping COG running from Leighton Buzzard in bases easily accessible to other community services.