All six of Croydon Council’s Extra Care services – assisted accommodation homes – have been rated as “Good” following Care Quality Commission inspections.
Staff at these facilities look after many of Croydon’s vulnerable residents, providing assistance for those with dementia, sensory impairment, learning and physical disabilities, to live as independent lives as possible within their own communities.
The management of these schemes had been outsourced to a private, profit-making business by the previous Tory-controlled council in 2013, but in 2019, the then Labour leadership took the running of the homes back into direct council control.
The council propaganda department issued a press release yesterday hailing the success of the satisfactory CQC inspections, but omitted to mention the locations of the extra care schemes. They are believed to be Frylands Court in New Addington; Southsea Court in Broad Green; Toldene Court in Old Coulsdon; Brookhurst Court in South Norwood; Freeman Court in Norbury; and Truscott House in West Croydon.
Good rating: Southsea Court, on of Croydon’s six Extra Care schemes
“These positive ratings show that all council facilities are performing well and meeting CQC expectations for safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led services,” the council press office stated.
The CQC inspectors found that people were being well supported by staff to have control over their own lives wherever possible, respecting their best interests and individual choices.
Each facility was also committed to regularly checking and reviewing their own work, learning where they can improve and strengthen services or safeguarding measures.
Croydon’s part-time Mayor, Jason Perry, will have had no influence whatsoever over the running of the six schemes or the satisfactory CQC rating since his election in May. The propaganda department nonetheless shoe-horned in a vacuous quote from Perry, which properly paid tribute to the council staff’s hard work, especially after “navigating added pandemic pressures”.
It would appear that these schemes are something that the Tory Mayor will not be including among the next round of at least £30million cuts to council spending, which he is due to announce early next year. “It is important that we continue to deliver these services, working with residents to maximise their independence and enable them to live connected lives within their own communities,” Perry said.
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