New Adult Care Service Opens In Hartlepool
Danshell, a provider of learning disability and mental health services in the UK, is investing in a new adult residential service in Hartlepool.
Hope House, which was officially opened on 24th September 2014, by Cllr Mary Fleet, Deputy Mayor of Hartlepool Borough Council, provides six bespoke, self-contained flats, each with en-suite facilities, kitchenette and separate lounge areas for adults with learning difficulties.
The new service was planned in close partnership with local NHS Health Commissioner and Hartlepool Local Authority to configure the care to meet the needs of the area. Three service users will move into Hope House over the coming months and they, and their carers, have been involved in the layout, furnishing and design of their flats to create personal, bespoke facilities.
The service will continue to work closely with Hartlepool Borough Council and existing community learning disability services, which will be providing multi-disciplinary support.
The service will be managed by experienced health and social care professional Stella Bolger. Stella, who is a qualified mental health practitioner, will be moving from Darlington to run Hope House. Stella has worked with service users with learning difficulties and Autism for more than 20 years and within mental health services since 2006.
Stella said: “I am looking forward to working closely with service users, their families and other key professionals involved in their care. Hope House will integrate with the local community and provide a safe environment, delivering compassionate and effective care by a highly skilled group of care professionals. Danshell has a good reputation for innovative, quality care and I am looking forward to establishing Hope House as a beacon for care and support for its service users.”
Efi Hershkovitz, CEO of Danshell, said: “This service for individuals who require specialist support for learning difficulties, will bring high-quality; much needed care provision to the Hartlepool area.
“When considering future developments for Danshell services in the North East careful consideration has been given to establishing what local authority and health commissioners needed. The message came back loud and clear ‘local services for local people’.
“These discussions then focused around individual Hartlepool service users who would benefit from an individually designed care package back within their home area and outside a hospital setting. Following on from these initial discussions the commissioners, Danshell and the Tees Esk & Wear Valley Team have collaborated over some months to work together towards this goal.
“This has so far involved initial assessment, an holistic service design, and implementation of careful transition plans.
“Hope House is a service that Hartlepool can be proud of, providing safe, person-centred care that meets the needs of commissioners and reflects the current thinking of supporting service users in the least restrictive environment.
“The team at Hope House will be focused on ensuring that service users are part of the local community and can access education, employment and meaningful activities to meet their needs. Danshell is committed to supporting people in a manner that enables them do the things that most of us take for granted such as spending time with family and friends, having something worthwhile to do during the day, learning new skills and feeling included and valued in their own community.
“Quality of care is at the heart of everything we do and we will carry on listening to all our stakeholders, but importantly, to the people who use our services and their families and ensure they have the support they need to speak up and participate.”
Councillor Mary Fleet, Deputy Mayor of Hartlepool, said: “Hope House is an amazing facility for Hartlepool. The rooms are so spacious, the light coming in is fantastic and the gardens are wonderful. This is a much needed service for the town and I want to say a huge well done to everybody involved.”
