Wirral’s adult social services director John Webb admits his department has not communicated shake-up plans to the public very well

Nov 5 2008 by Carrie Catterall, Birkenhead News

Wirral’s adult social services director John Webb admits his department has not communicated shake-up plans to the public very well

ADULT Social Services admits it has “not communicated very well with the public” regarding its service shake-up.

Fears have grown among the elderly and their carers after hearing care home closure dates are moving forward, there will be cuts in the provision of hospital beds and frozen meals will replace home-cooked ones.

But now John Webb, director of Wirral’s adult social services, has told the News that he wants to set the record straight and let people know exactly what they can expect in the future.

He said: “Mendell Lodge in Bromborough and the former Somerville school site in Wallasey are being built on with much better facilities than the care homes which have or will close – they’ll also have 128 flats between them.”

Wirral Council also confirmed that it received £1m extra funding for individual budgets, which is part of the government’s Transforming Social Care agenda.

As part of this initiative, people will soon have money paid to them directly so they can make their own arrangements to meet their needs, or ask the council to provide services, or a mixture of both.

While this transition between services takes place, however, many people fear they will lose out in the short term.

However, Wirral Council said there are many facilities available to people now.

Carer Kevin McKenna, of Wallasey, said: “The problem I have with adult social services is that it has been so secretive. This causes anxiety and fear.

“I have not been told what services will be available for my mother after Feltree House closes in November.

“The people who matter have been left in the dark.”

Mr Webb said: “Maybe we haven’t been very good at communicating our plans with the public – but we are not the big bad wolf in this. We are striving to improve and personalise the services we provide.

“In the meantime, we have many other facilities available and work closely with Age Concern Wirral which runs lunch clubs, active age activities and day care.”

For information on Age Concern services, call 666 2220 or 649 1760.