Complex care homes transform lives in Aberdeen

Aberdeen’s first purpose-built complex care accommodation has opened in Stoneywood.

The £4.5m Stoneywood Road development will deliver specialist accommodation for eight people, offering care to some of the city’s most-vulnerable people.

The new accommodation is enabling people who have up to now been cared for in hospitals and facilities outside Aberdeen to be looked after in their home city.

And the building, environment, and support model have all been designed specifically with them in mind.

Each of the eight wheelchair-adapted bungalows has a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a wetroom, along with a small private garden.

The building specifications were drawn up to include a maximised footprint for each bungalow, appropriate layout and design, and the use of robust materials.

A shared garden space and a sensory garden are also part of the scheme – along with a staff building with office space, a meeting/training room, and an area for carers to take time out.

Staff will be on site at all times and the development has 28 car parking spaces.

The buildings have been designed to ultra-low energy environmental performance standards, featuring low and zero-carbon technologies.

Existing trees around the site have been maintained and new trees and soft landscaping have been included in the redevelopment of the site of the former Stoneywood School.

The scheme was a collaboration between Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership, with the building work led by developer, KJ Tait, and the design team at MRT Architects.

Aberdeen Integration Joint Board (IJB) chairman, Hussein Patwa, said: “I am delighted to see the opening of the city’s first bespoke accommodation for people with extremely-complex care needs who need 24-hour specialist support.

“The people who are moving in are currently cared for beyond the city boundary – and this project will bring them home, closer to their families and friends, supporting the wellbeing of the new residents and everyone close to them.”

IJB member and chairman of the IJB Risk, Audit and Performance Committee, Councillor Martin Greig, added: “This new, high-quality building has been long awaited.

“It demonstrates our commitment to look after the wellbeing of those with extensive health care requirements.

“More and more people require care and support and there is also an increasing diversity in the range of needs that individuals are experiencing.

“It is so good to open this important local facility as a welcome and important service for the benefit of so many in the city.”

Support for the residents will be provided by The Richmond Fellowship Scotland (TRFS).

The project is in line with the Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership’s Strategic Plan, which includes a key aim to keep people safe at home and help them to achieve fulfilling, healthy lives.

The Partnership’s Complex Care Programme aims to create suitable local accommodation and associated care provision for people with complex care needs.

The scheme also aligns with the Scottish Government’s Coming Home agenda, which aims to reduce delayed discharges and inappropriate out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

Scotland’s Mental Wellbeing Minister, Tom Arthur MSP, said: “I am delighted to see the opening of the new complex care accommodation site in Stoneywood Road.

“The development supports our commitment to the Coming Home Implementation Report, ensuring people with learning disabilities and complex needs are spending less time in hospital or out of area and can be fully supported in their own communities.”