Dr Dan Poulter, Member of Parliament for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, has welcomed Suffolk County Council’s decision to keep Paddock House care home in Eye open until a new care home and community health facility has been built as part of the redevelopment of Hartismere community hospital.
Dr Poulter has visited Paddock House on several occasions and has led calls to keep the care home, which is highly valued by staff, residents, and the local community, open. Importantly, Paddock House currently houses the community hospital beds which were moved from Hartismere Hospital when the latter closed for refurbishment in 2006.
Suffolk County Council is currently in the final stages of finding a new provider to run and redevelop Suffolk’s care homes, following a public consultation into the future of the County’s care homes which ended last year. The leader of Suffolk County Council, Cllr. Mark Bee, has assured Dr Poulter that Paddock House cannot be closed given the vital importance of the community care beds that are located there.