ELDERLY residents living in some of the city’s almshouses will not see their care cut, after a consultation rejected the changes.

St John’s Winchester had proposed to removed the registered care that is provided by staff and overnight care, but on Monday it was announced that this will no longer go ahead.

The proposals had been put forward as fewer than 10 of its 90 residents were supported by this element of care, and chief executive Clive Cook said there was a significant time and cost element involved to Care Quality Commission (CQC) compliance.

But the consultation heard from staff, residents and their families who put forward their points of view, and the Chronicle was told that concerns had been raised as to how it would affect residents’ lives.

Mr Cook said: “Throughout this consultation we were in constant open communication with all involved in the almshouses and the provision of care.”

He added: “Staff and residents are on board with the decision to retain registered care at the almshouses, and we have held staff meetings and an almshouse residents’ meeting to discuss the decision.

“While there is a cost and time implication of delivering registered care and CQC compliance, we recognise that to those in the St John’s community who receive care it is a vital part of their being here and is valued highly. It provides a reassuring support network and is one of the benefits of living at St John’s.

“Whilst it can be viewed that the registered care provision has a degree of formality associated with compliance, good relationships and camaraderie significantly outweigh any such formality; our welfare team carry out many pastoral roles beyond the bounds of registered care, such as helping to organise events, trips, social clubs, wellbeing initiatives such as yoga and exercise classes, the weekly lunch club, and more.”

The charity is only one of three almshouse charities in the UK providing registered care. There are said to be 16,000 organisations running almshouses in the country.

A proposal was also put forward to remove overnight support following concerns about lone working regarding the team members who carried out the duty, but this will continue as normal, with new cameras installed to protect staff.

Mr Cook said: “Robust CCTV is in place across the sites, with new cameras having recently been installed at the south side to cover even more land, as well as the presence of a private security team who patrol at night. The local PCs and PCSOs pop into the almshouse office regularly and we have a good relationship with them to raise any concerns we may have.”

Staff are also undertaking training on lone working and the maintenance team is identifying any structural security problems.