Families speak out against closure of adult day care centre

Families say they will be left ‘devastated and uprooted’ if plans to close a day care centre for adults with learning disabilities are approved. 

Chadderton Hall Park centre has been supporting families in Oldham for more than 20 years. But under budget-cutting measures proposed by service provider MioCare and Oldham council, the site could soon be shut.

Care worker Amanda Shelley, 60, said her brother’s life ‘wouldn’t be the same’ without the service, which supports 21 people between 9am and 3pm on weekdays, teaching skills like gardening and customer service. 

Subling Mark Hilton, 50, has serious learning difficulties and is non-verbal. Attending ‘Chaddy Hall’ for the last 20 years has given him meaning and a regular routine, Shelley said. 

“It means everything to us – Mark is so happy at Chadderton,” she told the LDRS. “The staff are amazing with him. And he probably needs more attention than some of the others. His life wouldn’t be the same without it. 

“But now with the closure – if Mark has to change his routine, everything changes in his life. He becomes uprooted – he can become incontinent, he can hit out, he’s just a different person.

“We only heard about the proposed closure after it had been in the papers. It really shocked me.”

Shelley said she would be working with service users and their relatives to try to stop the closure. 

MioCare Group, a council-owned care service, runs the daily service at a cost of around £150,000 a year. According to MioCare bosses, the building needs a number of costly repairs, meaning it would be more cost-effective to relocate users to ‘suitable alternative day services at similar costs’. 

That’s why the service has been proposed as a cost-saving measure in the council’s budget proposals currently being considered by the council. 

Responding to concerns, councillor Barbara Brownridge, cabinet member for health, said:  “Many residents may know that MioCare have proposed to close the Day Service for adults with learning disabilities that runs from Chadderton Park. We had been assured that affected residents would be involved the process to find alternative provision.

“After a consultation meeting on Thursday 29 January where families raised a number of concerns, myself and the Leader of the Council have requested MioCare to provide more detailed information about the reasons for the proposal and to hold a further round of consultation with families.

“As a resident focused council we are continuing to explore options, no decisions have been made and won’t be made until after the consultation closes on 26 February, and we will continue speaking to the families affected.”