Innovative living at Station Court, Duns
Tuesday, October 23 2007
“When I arrived I felt I’d come to Utopia”. These were the words of John Curran as he moved into his purpose-built home at Station Court in Duns. John is one of eleven people moving to Duns from Marchmont, a nursing home in Berwickshire, for people with a substantial disability or illness.
The houses and their surroundings are designed to maximise independence and links to the local community. The rooms are spacious and airy and can house the equipment that tenants may need. There are individually tailored alarm systems for people to call for assistance from Community Integrated Care (CIC) who provide 24 hour support to all tenants.
Councillor David Raw, Executive Member for Social Work, said: “It was a real challenge to develop an alternative service in a community setting. It was important to ensure people would feel confident in the support they would receive, whilst trying to develop a housing design that would be accessible for wheelchair users and would fit into the local setting. After a great deal of planning, tenants are telling us that they are very pleased with the move.”
The new service is a jointly funded partnership between Scottish Borders Council Social Work Services, NHS Borders, Communities Scotland and Berwickshire Housing Association.
Director of Social Work Services, Andrew Lowe, said: “This development has required vision and courage from all concerned – the tenants, their families and carers, the Council, NHS and our funders. It represents a change in their quality of life and means that those moving in are no longer residents of an institution, but tenants of their own home. It is something we can all be proud of.”
Mary Wilson, Chair of NHS Borders, said: “In their new, individually designed homes, tenants will have 24 hour nursing care and regular input from nurses and therapists tailored to their needs. They will also have weekly visits by a dedicated GP who will visit the home and also provide on-call cover for emergencies.”
Rob Harper, CIC Director of Partnerships, Learning Difficulties and Mental Health Services, said: “It is an exciting time for everyone involved and we are delighted to be part of this innovative project. The tenants have participated in the design and development of their new houses from the outset.”
Unified Solutions.