BIDDERS aiming to take over Aberystwyth’s Bodlondeb care home will have to guarantee that current residents can remain at the home, a council tender document has said.

Ceredigion County Council’s social services department is due to release the tender document to companies interested in taking over to provide a dedicated dem­entia nursing care home following a controversial decision by the council’s Cabinet.

One of the biggest backlashes against the decision was that current residents could be forced out of their home of many years with fears the upheaval would cause distress for residents.

The council, though, is hoping to mitigate that by including in its tender document that current residents must remain at the home.

It says: “The existing residents must be given the right to remain by any new provider.

“The right to remain will be emb­odied in a block contract for the existing residents who are in residence at the time of the transfer.

“The number of places in the block contract will reduce progressively as the existing residents leave, with the contract terminating when the last resident leaves.”

There are also demands on the quality of rooms provided, with the council saying that all rooms must meet certain standards by being single occupancy, having en-suite shower rooms and meeting dementia good practice guidelines, with a suggestion that could best be achieved by changing the layout of the current building and possibly even extending it.

The document says: “It may also be desirable to increase the operational capacity of the building and a high level review of the floorplans suggested that these could be reconfigured to provide 37 ensuite rooms.

See this week’s south editions for the full story, in shops now or online by clicking the Digital Editions tab at the top of the page