ABERYSTWYTH’S only council-run care home has finally closed after the last resident moved out of the home on Thursday, 11 January.
The death knell for the home, which had been caring for residents for over 50 years, had been sounded when members of a Ceredigion County Council scrutiny committee narrowly voted to accept closure instead of asking the full council to make a decision on the home in a controversial decision at the end of November.
But the doors were finally closed on Thursday, 11 January when the final resident moved out of the home with questions now turning to what the council will do with the current Bodlondeb building and site.
The last resident had been the only person being cared for at Bodlondeb for around a month with Ceredigion Council admitting earlier this month that it had agreed a date with the resident and their family for them to leave the home.
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The council will now ask the Care and Social Service Inspectorate Wales to de-register Bodlondeb as a care home allowing the official closure to be finalised.
An e-mail informing councillors of the closure was circulated on Thursday with Carys James, the head of adult social care and commissioning, saying that with the final resident moving to Cartref Tregerddan in Bow Street, the home will now officially close.
It says: “I am writing to you as the delegated responsible individual for the local authority care homes to advice that the last resident has left Bodlondeb residential care home this morning.
“She has moved to Cartref Tregerddan in Bow Street as was her choice after viewing the care home.
“Bodlondeb residential care home will therefore cease operating as a care home from today and I am about to notify CSSIW of this and our request to de-register the home as a residential provision.”
Questions will now turn to the future of the building and the site with the council previously claiming that it was not in discussions about selling the site and was not marketing it while residents were still in place.
Cllr Catherine Hughes, the social services Cabinet member, said: “Following the difficult decision to close Bodlondeb, we must thank the residents, families and staff members for working together to ensure the transfer of residents went as smoothly as possible to their new homes.
“Staff at the home have been involved in the whole process and the council is working hard to ensure their future within the care sector in Ceredigion.”