17 bungalows plan lodged by care home near Oswestry

Hengoed Park Residential Home, near Oswestry, has submitted plans for the bungalows to be located in its courtyard.

They were lodged with Shropshire Council this week by care home owners Tamarin and Robert Bilbow and will be expected to be determined on in the coming months.

The home primarily cares for residents with alcohol-related brain damage and acquired brain injuries.

A statement supplied to the council along with the application says: “When Hengoed Park was first acquired, it had a small number of full-time elderly mentally infirm (EMI) residents.

“Over time, following investment in staff numbers and training and a change of ethos introduced by the family, numbers grew, reflecting the increased service level and care provided to its service users.

“In January 2012, it was decided to move the focus from EMI care to a fast-growing sector with much demand, alcohol-related brain damage and acquired brain injury.

“Hengoed Park is operating at full capacity with 36 service users, looked after by a staff body of 42.

“The nature of the needs cared for at Hengoed Park differ depending on each service user, but they are usually complex and require highly skilled care, often one-on-one, by staff specialising in ARBD and ABI.

“Such is the lack of clinical knowledge and awareness of ARBD that we often receive referrals without any defined diagnosis.

“It is for this reason that Hengoed Park employs its own clinical lead, as well as outside consultants, to provide advice on both clinical and nutritional requirement.

“There are very few providers offering this type of specialist care; the nearest other examples can be found in North Lanarkshire, North Somerset, Devon and Weston Super Mare.”

The company says in order to continue its work it needs more space.

It added: “In order to be the national leader and to meet growing demands in this specialised field of mental health it is vital that Hengoed Park increases the number of individual independent dwellings within its grounds.

“This is in order to offer service users a more beneficial stepping stone in their journey to recovery rather than the failure of a dramatic return into the community which the management team have recognised does not work and can often lead to service users falling into crisis.

“If such crises were to occur in the local community, this in turn places extra pressure on outside agencies such as emergency services, hospitals and mental health support services.”

By Andrew Morris - Local Democracy Reporter