Harleston House statement

The future of Harleston House, Lowestoft

It is with deep regret that that the Board of Church Army concluded at its meeting on 10 June that Harleston House, its 24 bed home for elderly people in Lowestoft, has no realistic prospect of becoming viable again.

The Board therefore has decided in principle to withdraw from Harleston House with effect from 31 October 2003, subject to a thirty-day consultation period with the staff at the House. The preferred option of the Board would be to see the work of Harleston House continue and, to this end, the House will be marketed as a going concern. The Senior Management Team of Church Army is already in initial discussions with a potential purchaser.

Harleston House has long been and remains a beacon of excellence in the residential care of elderly people. However, the ever-increasing burden of regulatory compliance, whether about buildings or care, combined with the inability of the public sector to pay a realistic level of fees, have meant that maintaining the home can only be done with an unsustainable level of funding from Church Army or elsewhere and with unreasonable pressures on dedicated management and staff.

We have for many years been looking for a way to secure the future of Harleston House, first through partnerships with Westminster Health Care and Trinity Care, and more recently with a local Steering Committee in looking at options for diversification. The larger care organisations are not able to provide the excellence and homely feel that those at Harleston House have become used to, and do not think it possible to run a viable home with fewer than forty beds; smaller groups cannot afford the capital cost of expansion or the risks of operating on the margins of viability. In common with thousands of other residential homes, we have been forced to the conclusion that, even if we were to keep the home going, it would only be a question of time before an insurmountable crisis would take matters out of our hands.

Despite this decision, we remain committed to evangelism among older people in Lowestoft. In recognition of the ministry John Worsfold, the Home Manager, already exercises amongst older people, and his commitment to evangelism, it was agreed several weeks ago that he should be commissioned as a Church Army Evangelist in July. It is our hope that John will be able to exercise his ministry in the parish and wider area. Discussions are currently taking place in this regard together with exploring any training needs he might have.

If it should prove necessary, we will work with local Social Services and families to try to find suitable alternative accommodation for all residents, and our experience suggests that this will normally take up to nine weeks to arrange. We will also advertise the home for sale, either as a going concern or as a building.