New hope for Bonnyton House?

Council number crunchers and high level management say that selling off Bonnyton care home in Busby would shave more than half a million pounds if sold off the private sector, mainly because of crippling subsidies in other day services the care home currently offers over and above the cost of running the residential home.

Campaigners, however, say that selling off the home would leave the council with the headache of finding alternative day care and respite facilities.

They presented their financial proposals that also include shedding the day care and respite services; developing the space and rooms that would be freed up to extend the number of rooms available from 28 to 46, raising potential income that can be retained by the public purse.

“Private or publicly-owned, the extra services that are crippling the ledgers would have to be re-assigned somehow,” said Allan Smillie, whose mother is a resident of the nursing home.

“Separating these services from the running of the home would make it far easier to keep the region’s only council care home within the authority’s portfolio and, with some investment, create a bigger, better and potentially highly profitable asset.”

The meeting was attended by Frank White, head of health and community care, Julie Murray, director in charge of the department, and a representative from ERC’s finance department.