The campaign to save Council-run continues, with the next big date for your diary as Tuesday 28 September at 2pm for the next demo at the City Chambers, to coincide with the next meeting of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB).
See the Facebook event for the demo as organised by Another Edinburgh is Possible for 9.30am. Unite members will hold a demo at the new time of the EIJB meeting 2pm, Tuesday September 28th outside the City Chambers.
Read about the Save Our Care Homes campaign for details of the proposals and the fight so far.
Read on for an update.
Help #SaveOurCareHomes!
If you can’t make the demo, you can still help by
- contacting your MP, MSP and councillors. Use this template from Another Edinburgh is Possible and find their details on WriteToThem. It never hurts to tweet them too.
- spread the word on social media using #SaveOurCareHomes.
- sign the petition.
- Contact brian.robertson2@unitetheunion.org and graeme.smith2@unitetheunion.org to speak about how else you could help!
Update
The Council are keen to get out of the lease with the Walker Group, who own for Ferryfield House, and need to serve their notice in October. Originally the Council stated they would need to renew the lease for 5 years, but it now seems it may be possible to renew for a shorter period, so there is no reason to rush through the proposals for this reason.
Labour have spoken out against the care home closures.
The EIJB have promised to have a 3-month public consultation. It hasn’t made any commitment to dedicated consultations with staff or residents. It is exploring how it would conduct the consultation, which we hope to hear about in the September meeting.
It is vital that consultation is meaningful; contains the views of citizens, staff and service users; and opens discussion around alternatives.
The evidence backing the proposals is still missing. Despite calls from the EIJB for an environmental expert to be part of the impact assessment, which looks at environmental concerns of the proposals, this has been neglected by the Council staff involved. The proposals state they would have a positive impact on the environment, but purely on the basis that the Council would reduce its estate—with no consideration about the impact on the planet. This is especially galling considering the proposals include a huge increase in care at home, which would entail many more car journeys.