Glimmer of hope as Leeds care home campaigners launch late bid for inquiry into closure plans

Supporters of Siegen Manor, in Morley, and Middlecross, in Armley, made speeches calling for closure plans to be scrapped at Leeds City Council’s health scrutiny board meeting yesterday.

The move comes after plans to shut The Green care home in Seacroft as well as Middlecross and Siegen Manor and four Leeds day centres were announced in September.

Earlier this year scrutiny officials suggested council bosses delay closing The Green for at least two years following an inquiry into its proposed closure after 3,800 people signed a petition calling for it to be saved. The recommendation was based on The Green’s ‘good’ care rating and the “at best variable” standards in the private sector.

Linda Newsome, whose mum is a resident with dementia at Siegen Manor, said campaigners collected 1,500 signatures opposing the home’s closure.

She said: “We don’t have confidence in the private homes that haven’t come up to the standards of the council homes.”

A consultation over the closures ended in December after the plans, which could save the council £2.5million a year, were revealed.

Cath Roff, director of adult social services at the council, said council bosses have a “juggling act” to meet people’s needs through quality while meeting a budget, but reassured the board that families would not lose out by moving homes.

Coun Peter Gruen, chair of the scrutiny board, said: “The quality argument has been uppermost in our minds – is the private sector ready at this stage to take up the provision?”

He added that a subgroup of the board would look more closely at the plight of Siegen Manor and Middlecross in the next 10 days before the council’s executive board makes a final decision on the future of all affected homes and day centres in the coming weeks.