Closure of day care centre on hold amid backlash

The closure of a much-loved day care centre for adults with learning disabilities is on hold amid a backlash.

Council-owned care providers MioCare proposed slashing the service at Chadderton Hall Park as part of budget-cutting measures, with Oldham town hall attempting to plug a £20m budget gap. 

A public outcry has led to the move being put on hold.  

Care worker Amanda Shelley, 60 – whose brother Mark Hilton, 50, attends the day-care centre every weekday between 9am and 3pm – welcomed the news. 

Shelley said: “It’s amazing news that they’re not closing it down. At least we have got that result.
“We’ll keep challenging it until they agree to keep it open. These are adults with special needs and they deserve better.” 

Hilton has serious learning difficulties and is non-verbal. Attending ‘Chaddy Hall’ for the last 20 years has ‘meant everything’ to both him and his family, Shelley previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. 

Shelley and her husband intend to campaign to raise funds for repairs to the buildings, which MioCare has warned could be ‘very costly’. The care provider wanted to strike the day care centre from their books to save the £150,000 yearly running cost, and future expense of building maintenance. 

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, cabinet member for adults, health and wellbeing, said: “After listening carefully to the responses so far to the consultation, and to the very real and understandable concerns raised by families and carers and stakeholders like Jim McMahon MP, we have decided to pause the proposed closure of Chadderton Park Day Care Centre. 

“We will now work closely with MioCare to find savings in other ways, and to look aain at how we can best support the people who rely on the Chadderton Park day service. 

“I had understood that this consultation had started much earlier. I am disappointed to learn that it had not, and I am sorry for the worry and distress this has caused. We will raise this directly with MioCare.” 

Asked if they could reassure families of how long the future of the care centre is secured for, a council spokesperson said there was currently ‘no timescale’. 

The spokesperson said: “Local councillors have asked for the proposals to be paused whilst further information is gathered to understand fully the nature and impact of those proposals. That work is being undertaken now but as yet we have no timescale for completion.“