The county will pay the £13m annual running costs and has contributed £20m to the scheme. Beds will be available from 2004.
The facilities will save the NHS £6m a year in delayed discharges from hospital. They replace the 500 private beds lost in the county, highlighted as a hotspot for home closures by health secretary Alan Milburn last October.
Council leader Ken Thornber said he believed the DOH agreed to the proposals because the council already runs 26 homes, some of which will be extended under the plans, and agreed to contribute to costs.
The council’s move bucks the trend for stock transfer. Thornber said: “We are given the responsibility to inspect the level of care in the private sector. We take the view that we best know what the level of care should be by being in the market.”
Source
Housing Today
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