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HARROW: Carers call for choice
The manager of a Harrow care home populated by people from outside the borough has called for adults in care to have more choice over where they live.
Jan Hill, manager of Bradbury Court, in Welldon Crescent, said the care home should be available to Harrow residents.
She said: "It seems very sad if you have got young adults in Harrow, coping with difficult circumstances, not being able to choose where they want to live. If they could offer people in Harrow something similar to here, then I don't see a problem. But they are not."
The care home, run by charity Livability, has not had a resident from Harrow since October 2006.
It was built eight years ago, with space for 21 residents to live in open, spacious rooms, each with individual bathrooms.
The home is close to Harrow town centre, and close to local bus and rail links, but no disabled people from Harrow are cared for there.
Ms Hill blamed this situation on Harrow Council, which caps the amount spent on adults in care.
She said: "It's all down to money, I'm afraid. The council won't fund people to come here because it is short of money. But sometimes the alternative is totally inappropriate."
The council's adult care services was rated one star in this year's Audit Commission report, but it has promised to improve the situation.
Neil Wells, 30, is one of the current residents of Bradbury Court, but comes originally from Aylesbury.
Before he moved to Harrow, another council moved him around different care homes and for a two-year period he was not offered accommodation at all.
He had a meeting with MPs on Monday, April 28, as part of a national campaign by Livability to raise awareness of problems with adult care accommodation, and wants people to be able to choose where they live.
He said: "I dropped out of the system and was given no explanation what was happening. I have been moved about to some places that were inappropriate before I came here. This is the best home I have been to."
The Harrow Times contacted the council for a comment but at the time of going to press had received no response.
11:58am Tuesday 6th May 2008
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