Older generation celebrate short-cut home

Getting home just got easier for older people facing a hospital stay as one of the town's main resource centres is to be relaunched after an extensive refit.

To help celebrate UK Older Peoples Day on Wednesday (1 October) Tudor Court Resource Centre will be officially relaunched after closing for eight months to improve facilities and to carry out essential upgrading.

A new medical room, a visitors room, more specialist kitchen facilities and accessible showers have been added to the centre to help older people remain closer to home rather going into hospital and to help people in hospital to return home sooner.

As one of four resource centres across Rochdale, the Tudor Resource Centre provides 17 beds where older people stay for a short time to get intensive help from a wide range of social care and health professionals. It provides extra support in the form of personal care, physiotherapy, pharmacy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. This allows people to leave hospital sooner after getting treatment and speeds their recovery in comfortable surroundings.

Rochdale Council’s cabinet member for health and social care, Councillor Dale Mulgrew said: "We are working hard to improve services for older people, and their welfare is the council’s top priority.

“The relaunch of the Tudor Court Resource Centre is a great boost for older people who find living at home difficult when faced with a hospital stay.

“The success of Tudor Court is the result of partnership working by the council’s adult care specialists and NHS professionals to ensure that older people continue living independently in the community. The excellent facilities the centre now has can only add to that success.”

As part of the UK Older Peoples Day celebrations, the council and its partners will also renew their pledge to improve the health, well-being, safety and prosperity of all older people.

Rochdale Borough Council’s cabinet member for older people, Councillor Pauline Maguire said: “The Tudor Court relaunch demonstrates the council and NHS commitment to increasing independence, choice and dignity for older people today. By renewing our pledge to make the borough a better place to live we also want to show our determination to ensure our plans match the ambitions of tomorrow’s older generation.”

Anyone worried that an elderly relative or friend is struggling to stay independent in their own home can contact the council’s Initial Access Team on 0845 602 4991 to ask for more advice.