Sussex village house could be converted into nursing suite for dementia patients

Care home company Medicrest have applied to Horsham District Council for planning permission for the conversion of the house at Homelands in Horsham Road, Cowfold.

In a planning statement to the council, the company says: “The proposal aims to provide a critical care service to the local community.

"Dementia Framework West Sussex estimated in 2014 that that there were 13,000 people living in West Sussex with dementia and this is set to grow by 14 per cent by 2017, with a further 26 per cent increase by 2021.

"This growth is happening at a time of significant reductions in public sector funding and we need to develop new ways to support people to live well with dementia.”

It adds: “Most people with severe dementia live in care homes, but a few care homes have closed in recent years and there is a shortage of specialised care in the district. It is increasingly difficult to find suitable places for people with dementia and families would have to look beyond the district to support their relatives.

“The Community Mental Health Team, based in Horsham, has regularly contacted us searching for vacancies for their dementia patients. There is an increasing need to offer a residential place for people with dementia, providing them with a safe, friendly environment to live in.”

If planning approval is given, the nursing suite would be accommodated within 11 acres of grounds at Homelands Nursing Home in Cowfold. Medicrest say their proposals involve ‘modest front and rear extensions’ to the existing two-bedroom property there ‘which will appear in-keeping with the original building, are sensitive to the countryside location and will not impact on any neighbours.’

Medicrest add: “We believe that this proposal to provide an additional seven beds to the existing average occupancy of 41 beds across the neighbouring care home sites, in place of an existing two bedroom house, is designed to suit the quiet countryside location with minimal impact on the site and nearby residents.”