Archived on 6/5/2022

Castlebar Care Home to Close

ForestHull

28 Mar '21

Excelcare, the company which runs Castlebar Care Home in Sydenham Hill, shared the news with families and residents on March 17. The home is set to close on April 30.

Just last year (July 2020) the care home was granted planning permission to build a two-storey extension to provide more bedrooms for residents.

The care home, which offers respite, residential, dementia, nursing, and end of life care, was struggling financially before Covid-19, an Excelcare spokesperson said.

But the decision on its closure was postponed to “safeguard the residents during an unprecedented pandemic”.

There are 40 people living in Castlebar, the majority of whom are funded by Lewisham (18). Eleven are privately funded, six are funded by Lambeth, three by Southwark, and two by non-London Councils.

The spokesperson said it was a difficult decision to close the home, but said there is not enough funding available for the “struggling elderly care sector”.

The Victorian building also needs a “complete refurbishment” to bring it up to today’s standards, they said, which would increase finanical losses.

marymck

31 Mar '21

This needs to be seen in relation to the demolition of Mais House and the high rise, high density urban style buildings planned in its place. Castlebar is Mais House’s closest neighbour and the proposed apartment block with loom over Castlebar and vulnerable residents will inevitably lose privacy.

The extension to Castlebar, which was approved by Lewisham only last July, would supply a further six rooms to the main house, with a new single storey building to be constructed in the garden that would add six small flats for semi-independent living. Lewisham approved this development because of the need for such accommodation in the area.

Castlebar is registered for 70 dementia and elder care residents. The loss of this much needed accommodation is in addition to the 63 sheltered housing flats already lost at Mais House.

I can’t help but wonder if the scale of the City of London’s planned buildings at Mais House was tempting to Castlebar’s owners.