On Wednesday 17th September, Branch Secretary Dan Sartin spoke at the West Sussex County Council Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee (HASC).
Dan made the case that the Council should suspend plans to close New Tyne residential care home for people in Worthing with dementia, and should put the future of New Tyne out for public consultation, alongside consultation the Council plans for its other 5 residential homes for people with learning disabilities. Dan also argued that the lack of a Review by the Council into different options was a major error.
All WSCC-employed members should be concerned about what is happening at New Tyne. The council faces major budget stress next year in 2026-27. With its proposal to close the CQC-rated ‘Good’ New Tyne, the council is saying to staff, we do not need to review your service or consider any other options, if we think we can do it cheaper in the private sector we will, whatever the consequences for you or your service. This is taking the Council back to the bad old days we experienced from 2012-2019. Have they learnt nothing from the Capita experience?
You can watch Dan’s 5-minute evidence session made on behalf of UNISON members at New Tyne here.
Councillors at first agreed with Dan that a pause was needed, but as the debate wore on, it was clear a deal had been done before the meeting and the Conservative group pressed to move ahead with closure. The Officers lost the argument, but were saved by a pre-meeting stitch up! So much for scrutiny…
TV coverage
BBC TV continue to show strong interest in the decision. This is how they covered the story on Wednesday night’s BBC TV South Today.
Petition
A petition has been launched to save New Tyne. Anyone can sign it, but we particularly need signatures from people who either live, work or study within West Sussex. If you work or study in West Sussex, but don’t live in the county, sign the petition but give the postal address of your workplace or place of study. That way your support will count towards the statutory threshold we need to clear to be able to address a Full Council meeting.
Please sign the petition here:
https://www.change.org/p/save-new-tyne-dementia-care-home-in-worthing
UNISON advises its members that it is perfectly fine and safe for anyone who works for WSCC or a West Sussex maintained school to sign our petition. It will not cause a problem for your employment. All members, including retired members, can sign it. The petition already has over 1,000 signatures! After signing, please share it on your social media.
Read our evidence report sent to Councillors
Read our full report below and download it here.
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