Care home to be set up in Derbyshire village but GP won't take new patients

Concerns about a lack of access to GP appointments in a Derbyshire village have been voiced after plans for a new care home were approved. At a South Derbyshire District Council meeting last night (November 12) plans for a 66-bed care home on the current Salt Box Cafe site in Station Road and Derby Road, close to the A50, were given the green light.

Concerns were raised about healthcare facilities to support the soon-to-be elderly residents, many of whom will require specialist dementia care. Dove River Practice, the closest GP surgery, 1.3 miles away across county lines in neighbouring Tutbury, Staffordshire, has said it does not have capacity to serve the new care home residents.

It said it already serves five care homes and due to local and national GP shortages it cannot cater for further care homes without affecting its current registered patients. As a result, £23,760 for healthcare improvements linked to the scheme, would be distributed to the next nearest GP facility at Wellbrook Medical Centre, 2.6 miles away in Hilton.

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Meanwhile, both Derbyshire County Council and the district council have disputed the current amount of need for care home beds in the district and raised current issues over the ability to recruit to the new care jobs in the area. County council officials have “concerns regarding the impacts of a new residential care home on the existing care home workforce” and “dispute the need for 111 market standard care home beds, whilst recognising the need for homes registered to provide dementia care”. The proposed facility would create 55 jobs – 33 full-time and 22 part-time.

In a report, district council officials say: “There are issues with recruitment to carer roles in the area and it is therefore considered unlikely that the roles will be filled by local people.” Alistair Wood, agent for the applicants, said residents staying in the care home would need to have a local connection and wanted to make the facility “a great place to live for those in need of care and also a great place to work for staff” making it the “best and most attractive care home possible”.

He said the vehicle access would stem off Derby Road while a pedestrian access would remain off Station Road. Cllr Julie Patten, district and county councillor for the area, raised issues of existing sewage and drainage issues made apparent by the adjacent Bellway Homes housing estate.

She said: “We do need this type of facility, particularly for dementia care.” Cllr Patten said the amount of parking, 24 spaces, was “underwhelming”, saying: “There is nowhere else to park other than the site, it is off a very, very busy main road and I don’t think it is adequate enough.”

She said the developer needed to ensure mud and dust from the site was not smeared across surrounding roads and pavements, as had happened with the Bellway Homes development. Cllr Andrew Kirke said: “I would bet my bottom dollar that that will not be enough parking spaces.”

Cllr Jayne Davies, a health practitioner, said: “These kinds of homes are needed for an ageing population. One of the local surgeries has refused to have anything to do with it due to the lack of capacity in staffing. The Section 106 (developer funding) cannot be spend on staffing and the whole issue is staffing so I don’t know how they (Wellbrook) can use that money to make the issue better.

“There is clearly a lack of GPs in our GP surgeries in the area.” She said there needs to be a GP review of the Hatton area, which had previously been promised.

Steffan Saunders, the council’s head of planning, said the ongoing Local Plan review would look at the infrastructure needs of the whole district, including healthcare facilities in villages such as Hatton. The plans were approved by 12 votes in favour and one councillor abstaining from voting.

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