Top Rated Dementia Provider Opens Second Home In Harrogate
A £13m state of the art dementia facility has opened its doors in Harrogate, creating 200 jobs.
Healthcare construction specialist Projex Building Solutions has delivered Vida Grange, its second project for one of the UK’s leading and ground-breaking dementia care providers, Harrogate-based Vida Healthcare, part of The Rycroft Group.
The new 124-bed facility is expected to follow in the footsteps of its sister home, Vida Hall, which last year became the first facility in the UK to achieve an Outstanding award by the Care Quality Commission, making it one of the top facilities in the country. Projex also worked with Vida to deliver Vida Hall, providing project management and cost consultancy services across both schemes, as well as principal designer (CDMC) services on Vida Grange.
The new home forms phase one of the redevelopment of the former Dunlopillo factory at Pannal Business Park, Harrogate and comprises eight different houses delivering a range of residential care options as well as day care services and respite care to the local area and beyond. It will also offer a dedicated service to younger people – making it one of the first homes in the region providing support to people under 65.
Vida has worked with senior consultants in the field to incorporate the latest thinking in dementia care and the unique, purpose-built design incorporates a host of special features including a high proportion of outdoor space accessed through a series of external terraces and internal courtyards, ensuring easy connectivity to the outside for all residents.
At the time of the CQC award (February 2015), Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“We found that Vida Hall was providing an outstanding service to the people it supported and to their families, and the team there should be extremely proud of the work they do. It is very clear that Vida Hall has adopted some ground-breaking initiatives… it is for this and many other reasons why the service has received the highest rating we can give.”
Managing director, James Rycroft, says: “The response to the opening of Vida Hall showed that we underestimated the huge demand for good dementia care facilities in the region. We set out to be a centre of excellence and to change perceptions about dementia care and that aim runs through everything. We have been delighted to work with Projex again and are very proud of our amazing team and the next phase following the launch of Vida Grange.”
The project also involved creating a new roundabout at Pannal on the main route into Harrogate from Leeds and a new link road. The contractor for the project was GMI Construction and the architect was Den Architecture.
