Two residential care homes in Derry threatened with closure have been given a temporary reprieve after it was announced no homes in the North would close before 2015.
William Street Residential Care Home.
The Health and Social Care Board said none of Northern Ireland’s statutory care homes will close before the end of next year. The ban on admissions will also be reviewed.
The board made the announcement during an, at times, heated public meeting in Belfast yesterday.
Rectory Field and William Street homes in Derry are among those threatened with closure.
Care homes across the North had been earmarked for closure in April of this year.
However, in May the health minister ordered trusts to suspend consultation plans a public outcry, with families and residents angry about how the matter was being handled.
A fresh consultation was announced in August with the hehealth board is in consultation over what criteria should be used to assess a home’s future.
Speaking after Tuesday’s meeting, the director of Social Care and Children, Fionnuala McAndrew, said: “It was very important that the board members heard the views of all the stakeholders who came sometimes long distances to attend the meeting.
“They vigorously expressed their views and concerns.
“We are listening, we have heard their concerns and I think it’s now time we take those views away and consider our consultation in the light of those.”
