By Patrick LowmanWORK has started on a £2.5million sheltered housing scheme that will provide greater support and care for the elderly.The new development in Ixworth, near Bury St Edmunds, will provide state-of-the-art homes for older people, enabling them to maintain their independence.
By Patrick Lowman
WORK has started on a £2.5million sheltered housing scheme that will provide greater support and care for the elderly.
The new development in Ixworth, near Bury St Edmunds, will provide state-of-the-art homes for older people, enabling them to maintain their independence.
Residents of the new housing block will be allocated individual apartments and have the reassurance and convenience of round-the-clock access to personal care and support.
The new development is being built within the grounds of the existing Ixworth Court residential home and day care centre, which is managed by Suffolk County Council.
The 24 residents at the home enjoy on-site high-dependency care and healthcare provisions, and these services will now also be available to those who take up residency in the new apartments.
A joint venture between the Havebury Housing Partnership and the Orwell Housing Association, the scheme is being hailed as the way forward for care and service for the elderly.
In recent years concerns have grown over the lack of available care homes places in the region, a situation that has often left beds at hospitals “blocked” by elderly patients who are ready for care within the community, but for whom no places are available.
The Ixworth scheme is seen as an example of how modern care and services can be provided to elderly citizens with their own community.
It was made possible by a £2.5m handout from the Government's housing corporation fund and the scheme is also supported by St Edmundsbury Borough Council.
Terry Clements, chairman of the Havebury Housing Partnership, said: “We are making available a much wider choice in the levels of personal care and support for elderly people. The new development will be a centre of excellence in both its design and the facilities it provides and shares.”
Some of the residents currently residing at Ixworth Court are expected to move into the new apartments, 24 of which will be single-occupancy and the remainder earmarked for couples.
Work on the new development is due to be completed in May 2006.
patrick.lowman@eadt.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here