A 3,000-signature petition has been handed to healthcare bosses, demanding a respite unit for the mentally ill is kept open.
New Burton House, a former maternity home owned by the NHS, includes two bungalows used for residential care for people with learning difficulties and is being lined up for closure as part of a programme of extending care in the community.
A group was formed last month to fight for the retention of the home which provides care for both children and adults with learning difficulties.
Members of the Save New Burton House group have been out in force in the town’s Market Square at weekends, collecting signatures of those opposing the closure. They presented the petition to Mike Cooke, chief executive of South Staffordshire Healthcare Trust last night.
The trust is believed to be planning to close the facility at the end of March next year as a cost-saving measure.
Lisa Gilby has been helping to collect signatures. She said: “My four-year-old son suffers from autism and other problems and we use the service, which offers respite care, every six weeks. Things would be awful without this service, I would be going out of my mind.
“I can’t believe that they are going to close this facility without putting anything in its place. We have heard it doesn’t have to close until 2008 so we want to ask why close it now?
“At first it was just a few of us campaigning to save the facility, but now we have teams on board from Walton Hall and Marshlands Schools. There has been a lot of support and we won’t give up until the Trust decides to reconsider.” Anyone wishing to support the Save New Burton House campaign can e-mail comments to thebluehat@btinternet.com or contact Kate Barre on 01785 254228.
Stafford MP David Kidney has given his support to the cause and members also asked Conservative party leader David Cameron to take up their case when he visited the town last month. A consultation is currently being undertaken with service users and carers over New Burton House.
Neil Carr, chief operating officer at South Staffordshire Healthcare said: “The services are commissioned between social services and the PCT - we are a provider but this has to be looked at together with all the partners.
“Closure in March was a suggestion, but the commissioners have told me in good faith that until they have the opportunity to review the service we will continue to provide care.”
By Sally Walmsley
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