Creamery House, Kesh
THE PROPOSED removal of care home services at Creamery House in Kesh would be a ‘massive blow’ to the village, a local councillor has said.
The proposals were revealed in a newly released document, detailing cost-cutting measures that the Western Trust has proposed as part of £13m worth of savings that must be made in the next year.
The care home currently caters for seven residents, and has four vacant beds. The document suggests that the care home is ‘not economically viable’ in the current financial spend.
It says: “The Trust further proposes to withdraw the residential provision at Creamery House in Kesh, Co. Fermanagh, due to long term vacancies. The building is old and difficult to maintain and will struggle to meet the regulatory estates standards as set by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS).”
The document also proposes to re-model Mantlin Court in Kesh as a ‘supported living service’.
“The Trust will develop a plan to re-provide the existing residential accommodation (17 bedded unit) to a 14 bedded supported living unit in line with projected demand during 2015/16.”
DUP Councillor David Mahon, who lives in Kesh, said: “I am deeply saddened to hear that Creamery House care home may be closing. The Kesh community and the local area will take the closure of this home as a massive blow to the village, the staff and local businesses are going to bare the brunt of another cut.”
Similarly, the UUP’s Rosemary Barton expressed disappointment at the ‘proposed closure of yet another care facility in Erne North’.
“This would be also be a further loss to the local economy in Kesh which has in the past suffered the loss of the Northern (Danske) Bank, Duke of Westminster High School and the Lough Erne Hotel in Kesh.”
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