Plans to shift from residential to nursing and specialist care by Hampshire County Council include the closure of seven care homes.

The £173 million proposals, which will be put to the council’s cabinet on 18 July, also include building three nursing homes and modernising and expanding care three existing council homes.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Rob Humby, said: “Hampshire is one of only a handful of county councils nationally to run our own network of care homes – but difficult choices face us as to where to focus our finite resources. Our adult social care service is therefore proposing to concentrate on the delivery of specialist nursing care, complex dementia care and short-term support – to either prevent a hospital admission or support a hospital discharge. This would not only meet the needs of a growing number of older people in Hampshire in the longer term but would be care that could be provided more cost effectively in-house.

“It is understood that the proposed move away from providing long term in-house residential care for those with more standard needs, would have personal implications for many.  Cabinet will therefore carefully consider the rationale put forward for this, as part of our deliberations.”

The plans, subject to approval, will go to a 10-week public consultation from the beginning of September.

They comprise:

• Building three brand new nursing homes – Oak Park in Havant, Cornerways in Winchester, and a site in the New Forest (location to be determined)
• Significantly modernising and expanding care at three existing county council homes – Oakridge in Basingstoke, Ticehurst in Aldershot and Emsworth in Havant
• Withdrawing, over time, from the direct provision of standard residential care, with: 
  – the permanent closure of two residential care homes, temporarily closed since 2021 – Copper Beeches in Andover and Cranleigh Paddock in Lyndhurst
  – the closure of three existing residential care homes at Bishops Waltham House, Solent Mead in Lymington, and Green Meadows in Waterlooville
  – the closure of two further homes in the longer term (not before the end of 2026) – Westholme in Winchester and Malmesbury Lawn in Havant, with the services seamlessly moving to the new local facilities at Cornerways and Oak Park at the point that they are operational
  – the ending of standard residential care services at Oakridge, Ticehurst and Emsworth (not before the autumn 2025 at the earliest).

The county council’s seven remaining nursing and short term ‘step-down from hospital’ care homes will remain in operation at: Forest Court in Calmore, near Southampton; Willow Court in Andover;
Clarence Unit (also known as Woodcot Lodge) in Gosport; Bickerley Green in Ringwood; Fleming House in Eastleigh; Hawthorne Court in Sarisbury Green, Southampton; and Marlfield in Alton.

The council said the investment proposals take account of exceptional cost pressures facing the local authority and the social care sector nationally, in particular, and the absence of any indication from government that a long-term solution to the funding of adult social care is imminent.