LEADER FUNDING SECURED FOR CARE CAMPUS PROJECT

The Crichton Trust is delighted to have secured LEADER funding for the ‘Building the Case for a Care Campus: Opportunities for a new Rural Care Model’ project in Dumfries and Galloway. 

The idea of a Care Campus for Dumfries and Galloway has been under discussion across several organisations since 2014.  It is focussed on adopting new approaches to ageing and testing a model to provide housing, social and community support with access to care for older people, combined with innovation in education, skills development and research.

The Crichton Trust has been working in collaboration with a number of key partners to develop the bid and thanks to the match funding received from The Crichton Trust, Dumfries and Galloway Council, The Crichton Foundation, Scottish Enterprise and NHS Dumfries and Galloway, funding has now been secured from the Dumfries and Galloway 2014-2020 LEADER programme to provide a project budget of £137,600.

Following a period of initial research and development undertaken through the Crichton Institute, the Crichton Trust and partners will now take the idea to the next stage and develop a “proof of concept” analysis for a Care Campus.  The project will develop a set of options, which will be assessed and analysed to identify strengths, weaknesses and potential benefits for the whole of Dumfries and Galloway.  The project team will identify a preferred option and will guide next steps for implementation.

The Crichton Trust is leading the project with Chief Executive, Alex Haswell at the helm.  Alex said: “Developing the idea of a Care Campus is a long term and ambitious project and involvement of a variety of stakeholders will be critical to its success.  Partnership working is fundamental to the approach being promoted through the Care Campus and we are extremely grateful to receive financial support from our partners and from the Dumfries and Galloway 2014-2020 LEADER programme to help test and develop this innovative approach.

I have no doubt that our findings will contribute to other local and national initiatives and will identify learning and best practice that can be shared and contribute to the future sustainability of care for older people in the region and further afield. The demographic challenges that this project will address are apparent throughout Scotland, and the lessons from Dumfries and Galloway will have relevance in other parts of the country and beyond.”

Professor David Clark from the University of Glasgow’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies in Dumfries will take on the role of Technical Director for the project. He said: “Our ambition is for a Care Campus that is a focus of excellence for housing and innovative caring practice and for it to become a world class exemplar in the creation and management of an integrated, whole workforce solution in health and social care for rural areas.  It can do this through the provision of world class education and training, research, workforce innovation and development, underpinned by excellent community engagement and development, to address a range of issues posed by the ageing society of Dumfries and Galloway.”

The project will run from October 2017 and work towards a Full Business Case for the preferred option being available by September 2019. During this time, three additional members of staff will be employed by The Crichton Trust, with a Project Officer, Community Engagement and Communications Officer and Project Administrator due to commence work on the project in early 2018.