IT’S VICTORY AS ‘LIFELINE’ NETHERWOOD DAY CENTRE ESCAPES AXE

Published: 31st March, 2011
by TOM FOOT

A VISIONARY centre built to meet the needs of confused and critically ill dementia patients has been saved from closure after Town Hall chiefs caved in to mounting pressure from carers, celebrities and the New Journal.

Councillors said in February that Netherwood Day Centre in West Hampstead would “definitely close”.

But, in a dramatic U-turn on Tuesday, Camden Council’s top brass said it would stay open “for at least two or three years” while plans to build a purpose-built dementia care “super-centre” in Kentish Town are considered.

Opposition councillors said it should be the “first of many rethinks” about cuts ordered by the council, but the fate of children’s centres, some libraries and play services remains uncertain.

Campaign co-ordinator Jane Clinton, whose father attends Netherwood five days a week, said she “punched the air Rocky-style” when she heard the news, adding: “It’s just so sweet – the sun is shining and I’m going to get my haircut.” Only last week, the plight of the day centre was front-page news in the New Journal – heaping pressure on those in charge of funding decisions.

The campaign was boosted by the support of a clutch of A-list celebrities, high-profile politicians, actors and heavyweight political thinkers after the closure threat emerged in January.

Bafta-winner Ricky Gervais said in our exclusive article last week that councillors were “cruel” for closing the Netherwood “lifeline”.

But now the Town Hall has announced the sudden discovery of a mystery pot of cash, found while recalculating the health budget.

Council chiefs said the Department of Health has released £3.42million to the council to protect the NHS from the fallout of massive cuts to the Town Hall’s social care budget. A share of that cash will go to Netherwood.

Labour social services chief Councillor Pat Callaghan said she had been overwhelmed by the powerful testimonies of carers, dementia patients and that the expert analysis of hospital consultants had “made a real difference”.

She insisted the intervention of Mr Gervais, star of The Office and a string of blockbuster movies, had not swayed the decision.

“Listen, do you want to ask Ricky to put his money where his mouth is?” she asked. “I would love some of his money. Tell him to do a concert at the O2.”

Cllr Callaghan told the New Journal in February that the centre would “definitely close” but at the time did not know about the Department of Health windfall. 

Rebecca Harrington, the council’s assistant director of housing and adult social care, said: “We have only recently discovered that this funding is available for dementia support in the community. 

“The NHS got very concerned that local authorities would be cutting social funding and the NHS would get blocked up. There was a deal done at the DoH. The council is honouring the commitment that this money does go to social care.”

The funding can only be used to help people in critical and substantial need – such as dementia victims who need high levels of care – and not for other public services such as children’s centres or old people’s day centres.

The adult social care department still maintains that dementia care is best suited to a single site. The original plan was to move care to Raglan House in Kentish Town, which is spread over two floors and has no garden.

Now the council has said it will only close Netherwood if a modern, specialist dementia centre is approved for Greenwood Place, a site behind the Forum in Kentish Town. Any development there would take at least two or three years to work up and would have to be approved following a series of public meetings.

Ms Harrington said: “We’ve only begun to believe this was in the pipeline for a couple of months. We need to make sure the figures stack up and it could take some time.” 

Under the early proposals, the council would sell lots of buildings to fund the “super-centre” in Greenwood Place.

A spokeswoman for Alzheimer's Society said she was “delighted”, adding: “People with dementia and carers should be included in any plans for dementia services. I invite any organisations seeking to make changes to their services to get in touch with us at an early stage.”

Labour councillor Mike Katz said: “This is excellent news. It shows Camden is listening to people. Hats off to Jane, the campaign and Pat Callaghan and her team, who have really tried hard to find an alternative.”

Conservative group leader Councillor Andrew Mennear said: “We’ve said all along these cuts did not need to be made. We welcome the rethink and hope it will be the first of many about the cuts they are making.”