Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, Maree Todd MSP, has praised an Edinburgh project for its integrated housing and care services.
The Minister visited Wheatley Care’s Beaverbank Place service, based in Broughton, to see first-hand how care and housing staff are working together to support residents.
Beaverbank has 41 new-build homes for social rent with Wheatley Homes East, part of Wheatley Group. These are intermixed with eight flats for Wheatley Care for people who have mental health issues, experience substance misuse, or have physical health issues.
The housing and care development offers people from Wheatley Care’s shared living services the opportunity to live independently in their own accommodation, with staff onsite to provide day-to-day support.
The Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport said: “My visit to Wheatley Care’s Beaverbank service was hugely valuable and I found it extremely useful to see in person how close working between housing and care services can improve people’s lives.”
The visit follows a meeting between the Minister and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) about ways housing and care can work closer together.
Laura Pluck, Group Director of Communities at Wheatley Group, said: “We were delighted to welcome the Minister and show her the facilities that have made such a huge difference to tenants’ lives since opening in 2020.
“We were very keen to highlight to the Minister the positive impact close collaboration between housing and care services can have on our tenants’ lives.”
The SFHA believes that the role of housing should be strengthened in the proposed National Care Service Bill.
Susie Fitton, Policy Manager, SFHA said: “We are really pleased that the Minister was able to see the transformative work that Wheatley take forward every day, supporting people to remain independent in their homes and communities for as long as they can, preventing homelessness and providing care and support when it’s needed most.
Housing associations and co-operatives are central to achieving many of the aspirations for the National Care Service, going way beyond the bricks and mortar, that’s why we need to see housing feature strongly in the forthcoming Bill and plans for the service.”
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