Investigation into cost of Barry care home (From Barry And District News)

Investigation into cost of Barry care home

4:30pm Thursday 19th July 2012 in News By Sharon Harris

THE Vale Council is investigating after it was alleged it had been spending £190,000 per year on retaining empty beds intended for dementia patients.
Hafod Care's Ty Dyfan residential home, in Gibbonsdown, Barry, had originally been earmarked for the elderly and mentally infirm (EMI) residents of Bryneithin Care Home, in Dinas Powys, when the Vale Council announced - following consultation that the facility would close.
But the families of the Bryneithin residents launched a successful legal challenge that enabled the home's occupants to stay for the remainder of their lives.
It recently emerged that the Vale Council had paid out £450,000 running costs in the year 2011/12 to support the two remaining residents.
It is believed the beds at Ty Dyfan have been empty for around four years. 
Vale Council cabinet member for adults in the Vale of Glamorgan, Cllr Stuart Egan said he was aware of the concerns local people had about the situation in Bryneithin, which was inherited from the previous administration.
He said: "Following investigations into the situation in Bryneithin, it has been alleged that there are very serious issues in Ty Dyfan.
"It is alleged that 12 EMI beds have remained empty for many years and allegedly cost £190,000 per year. If they had been filled they would have catered for 12 EMI patients and the cost would have been similar to keeping Bryneithin open. 
"This is despite there being patients left in hospital who may have needed these beds. It appears that the previous administration did not do anything about it and this is yet another example of the things we are now uncovering.
"Although we knew things were bad with expenditure on social services overspending by £3.5 million last year alone, but we didnÕt think things were as bad as they actually are.
"As a new administration, we are determined to get to the bottom of what has happened. We will be reporting our findings as the investigation concludes."
He said the council intended investigating using the Bryneithin site for the provision of care for older people, but no conclusions had been reached.
The new leader of the Vale Council Conservative group, Cllr John Thomas has declined to comment saying he did not know enough about the Ty Dyfan situation.
A Hafod Care spokeswoman confirmed all beds for patients with dementia were block booked by the local authority.