Dorset’s new adult day care plans could see centre closures – critics say proposals ignore facilities, users’ needs and rural transport challenges
Dorset Council, created in 2019 as a Conservative led authority and under Liberal Democrat control since the May 2024 election, has outlined proposals for major changes to the way it intends to provide day care for vulnerable residents across the county.
A consultation document issued on 11th March outlined the ‘hub and spoke’ schemes proposed, and gave interested parties 90 days, until 9th June, to make their views known.
The issues facing users and their carers, across the five areas of the county, are varied and complex. Six hundred people in Dorset use the adult day care services every day, and just over 300 of them are placed with Care Dorset, the council’s ‘trading partner.’
Currently in North Dorset, four day centres provide adult services to 68 residents. Of these, 21 visit the Blandford area centre, six attend Sherborne, five attend Shaftesbury and 34 attend Sturminster Newton.
Hub proposal
The consultation document explains that the users of the day care centres and their carers were asked about their experiences in 2021 and again in 2023, and asked for a wider choice of local activities and more flexible options, including activities in the evenings and at weekends. It continues: ‘We propose to introduce hubs across the county, where people can go to access information, make connections to everything that is going on in their local area and take part in some activities.’
But critics of the new scheme fear that the cash-strapped council is really proposing the closure of centres and the removal of services to some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Rob Mariner, a full-time defence industry worker whose wife has early-onset dementia and attends the Blandford centre twice a week, welcomes the respite from worry that he relies on while she is being cared for. Moving her care to Sturminster would be an hour’s round trip, eating into his work time. Rob has started a petition against the closure of the existing centres.
A parent who has taken many months persuading her adult son to attend the centre at Blandford fears he will not be willing to go to a ‘new’ centre at Sturminster.
They and other carers criticise the consultation document for omitting mention of important and well-used facilities, like the garden and cafe at the current Blandford centre, which is the most modern, was purpose built and has a bus stop right outside, meaning that public transport is not an issue.
The council document says that more than half of the people who attend day opportunities have their service delivered by Care Dorset in council-owned buildings, which are large and in need of updating. The proposals for the new hubs, and their spokes, are outlined in the document, but critics question the huge disparity in the numbers of people using the service between the various towns in North Dorset.
If you want to have your say over the Dorset Council proposals, visit
dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/better-days
Dorset Council invites the public to attend two online events via Teams to share their thoughts on the proposal:
15th May at 6pm here
4th June at 6pm here
Rob Mariner’s petition to stop the closure of day centres in North Dorset is at Change.org
