Dear Cheshire East Council,
Under FOI rules I would like to know the following

1. Before it was summarily closed, how many people could attend Bexton Court, Knutsford:
a. for Day Care?
b for other Respite Care?

2. How many people actually attended Bexton Court, during the last 12 months of its operation?

3. Where did those people come from?

4. Have all of those people been found alternative accommodation for Day/Respite Care?

5. If so, where do they now attend?

6. If not, what effort has been made to accommodate their needs and those of their carers?

7. Why was Bexton Court closed down?

8. How much notice was given to those people who care for the people who regularly attended Bexton Court?

9. What alternative socialising facilities have been made available for those people in Knutsford or its immediate area who need - and up until recently received - dementia care and socialisation?

10. Bearing in mind the extremely early (and hard) start to winter, when will Bexton Court be reopened?

11. What plans are in place to monitor the progress/regress of those people who are currently being sent much further afield, because Bexton Court is closed?

12. What plans are in place to monitor the immediate and longer term effects of the closure on the carers of those who can not currently attend Bexton Court?

13. Is the full complement of staff, who would usually expect to work at Bexton Court still on the payroll of Cheshire East Council?

14. If the full complement of staff is still being employed, what alternative work has been found for them?

15. If there has been any staff loss, how many staff have been shed?

16. What arrangements are normally in place between the Local Authority and the PCT (or Hospital Trust) in respect of financial payment by the PCT (or Hospital Trust) to the Local Authority?

17. What balances were built into the system, so that the closure of the Tatton Ward, would not remove the essential finance from the PCT (or Hospital Trust) for Bexton Court?

18. If no arrangements had been made to safeguard the essential dementia care services of Bexton Court, in the eventuality of the closure of the Tatton Ward, why not?

19. If arrangements had been made to safeguard the essential dementia care at Bexton Court, what arrangements were made?

20. Who (ie Job Title) was responsible for making such arrangements as those mentioned throughout the previous 19 questions?

21. Have any meetings taken place between Cheshire East Adult Services and those people within the NHS who have - until recently - funded Bexton Court?

22. With what result?

23. What is the legal position in respect of the withdrawal of essential NHS Funding from patients with dementia?

24. Do such patients have a legal right to such NHS funding because they are not just old, but are also notably ill, and therefore their welfare is within the remit of the NHS, rather than just the Local Authority.

25. If the NHS Funding follows the patient, (ie those who formerly attended Bexton Court) why was Bexton Court closed?

Because of serious concerns which I have in respect of the treatment of our old and ill, in the Knutsford area, I would be grateful for your expeditious response.

Yours faithfully,

Charlotte Peters Rock

Dear Ms Raine,

Thank you for your very prompt letter of response (23Dec2010) to my FOI requests.

QUESTIONS 2/3
I wonder if I can ask you to elaborate in respect of question 3? I would like to know if possible, how those 137 people mentioned in question 2, are split between the areas which you mention in your response to question 3? ie how many come from each area.

QUESTION 5
Also in question 5, can I ask how many people have now 'moved into permanent care in the independent sector'? Also, I take it that presupposes private rather than Local Authority or NHS funding?

QUESTIONS 7 & 10
In respect of the closure of Bexton Court, it seems that no insurance was undertaken to allow for such a contingency as the knock-on effect of the closure of the Tatton Ward, on the viability of Bexton Court. Are you in a position to confirm that?

QUESTION 13
Against what background number of staff have the losses of staff occurred? ie how many staff is 'a full complement'? What number of original staff still remain available, for when Bexton Court re-opens?

QUESTION 25 (& PREVIOUS)
re: the link between the NHS funding and Local Authority Funding: I believe that my Question 25 was not completely understood, so perhaps I can rephrase it? In respect of Bexton Court, which is a dementia Short Stay and Day Centre. Dementia, I believe calls in an element of NHS Funding for each patient? Can you please confirm that?

In that case, why did it need to be closed? That money should still have been forthcoming, even if the Tatton Ward was temporarily closed. Surely all the rearranging and the physical cost of moving dementia patients to different - and more distant - centres, would render the costs higher, and that is without factoring in the need for stability of those patients with dementia.

I would be grateful for your clarifications, and thank you for your help.

Yours sincerely,

Charlotte Peters Rock