Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s integrated care board said proposed 52-home facility would “put too much strain” on local health services
McCarthy Stone’s proposal for a retirement scheme in Hampshire has been defended by another later living provider after it was criticised by Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s NHS integrated care board (ICB).
The 52-apartment project with communal facilities and car parking in Boorley Green, near Southampton, is expected to bring up to 70 new residents to the area. This, the ICB said, would “put too much strain” on local health services and put patients “at risk”.
In a letter to Eastleigh Borough Council’s planning department, the ICB wrote that that the three closest GP surgeries to the 32 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom flats “have insufficient capacity and will not be able to absorb the increased patients arising from the proposed development”.
It called for a £17,485 contribution towards increasing primary care infrastructure “to make the application acceptable in planning terms”. It said it would object to the proposal if funding is not secured due to the “direct and adverse impact that the development will have on the delivery of primary health care”.
However, Spencer J McCarthy, chief executive of rival retirement housing provider Churchill Living, has responded to the NHS’s criticisms, arguing that later living housing alleviates pressure on local resources.
He said: “The concerns raised by NHS Hampshire regarding the potential impact of a new retirement community in their area betray some fundamental misunderstandings about the extent to which specialist housing for older people helps reduce NHS reliance and the extent to which very often older people are moving within the same area where they already live or to an area where they have family and friends on whom the can rely.
“Not only that, retirement communities play a crucial role in addressing NHS challenges, particularly when it comes to enabling people to leave hospitals more promptly. By providing much needed specialist housing for older adults, these communities not only help prevent unnecessary hospital admissions but also improve recovery times. In fact, research commissioned by Churchill Living demonstrates that retirement communities free up 17,000 bed-days each year, saving the NHS £10 million annually.
“The uncomfortable truth is that in seeking to obstruct the delivery of specialist housing for older people, with the safety and support services they offer, the NHS may inadvertently be adding to the strain on an already overburdened system.”
The planning application was submitted to the local authority in August 2024, with a decision expected at the end of March.
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