In March the Council regrettably had to announce the possible closure of Park House Residential Services due to an acute shortage of staff which posed a risk to the safe care of residents.
Following this announcement, and a subsequent public meeting, we received lots of community and media attention and this has generated more interest in job vacancies at Park House. In addition to this, we have identified single person accommodation and agreed a market supplement payment for care workers to make the roles more attractive.
As a result of this activity, it is likely that a stable workforce will be in place within the coming months. Consequently, our immediate safety concerns for the service have reduced and there are now no plans to close Park House Residential Services in June. The safe care of residents is our overwhelming priority and we will continue to review our staffing levels to ensure that we can provide this.
The provision of safe, sustainable residential care on the islands remains a priority for the council. However, whilst we have seen improvements, and an amazing level of support, the underlying challenge of recruitment remains. Maintaining the service will require further hard work from council staff and continued support from the community.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff at Park House for their dedication during this difficult time and also the residents and their families for their patience and understanding.