A £3 million specialist residential home to provide care for adults with severe learning difficulties and challenging behaviour in the wake of the Winterbourne View scandal will open next to Green Lane Hospital in Devizes this summer.
The Daisy is a new style of unit that will enable people with complex learning disabilities to return to Wiltshire and receive specialised services close to their family and friends, in a home from home setting.
Nine people will be supported by a team experienced in providing specialist care and will take an innovative and personal approach encouraging people to live at The Daisy as independently as possible.
Work is nearing completion on the building and is on target for opening within the next few months. Jane Anderson, service manager for specialised and criminal justice mental health from Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) said: “We are absolutely delighted with the progress. Things are moving on with great speed. Recruitment is progressing well and we are confident this new service will be an absolute success."
The group of flats, which takes its name from its flower shaped design, has been developed as partnership between the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group and AWP.
They say people living at The Daisy will be helped to maintain links with their family and friends and to become part of the community through education, sports and leisure.
Ted Wilson, group director, from the CCG said: “The introduction of these new services will help address the need for specialised provision for people with complex learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. We aspire to help people reduce their need for support, as they gain the confidence to have more control to live happy, meaningful and fulfilling lives."
Each flat will offer a fully equipped area with a kitchen, en-suite bathroom, lounge area and garden. People have contributed to the design of their own areas by choosing colour schemes and soft furnishings. A communal area will also be available.
The Daisy will be the first of its kind in Wiltshire. In the past adults with complex conditions have been in health units spread across the country and concerns about their care were raised in 2011 when it was revealed that some patients at Winterbourne View in Bristol were subject to physical and psychological abuse.
At the time the centre run by private firm Castlebeck had looked after four Wiltshire patients under an arrangement with the old Wiltshire Primary Care Trust.
A spokesman for Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust said: "When Castlebeck closed Winterbourne View residents had to be transferred to other facilities which were able to appropriately care for their specialist needs.
"This highlighted a severe lack of appropriate care facilities across the country and meant that for some of the Wiltshire patients they had to move as far away as Norfolk in order to receive the right care to meet their needs.
"The CCG and AWP have been developing plans since early 2014 so that Wiltshire people who are currently living out of area in accommodation suitable for their complex needs can be brought home to Wiltshire.
"Both organisations have made a commitment to work together to provide a service and accommodation for individuals over the age of 18 years with severe learning disabilities and challenging behaviour in Wiltshire."
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