Have your say about day services in Hastings and Rother

Feedback updated 21 Jul 2020

Results updated 1 Jun 2016

People took part in a number of ways:

• 48 people filled in a questionnaire
• 143 clients and parents and carers went to the information meetings
• 7 people wrote to us or talked to us about the consultation

What you think about the plans

• Over a third of the people who filled in a questionnaire agreed with the plans. Some of the people at the meetings agreed with the plans – particularly the Beeching Park clients.
• Nearly a third of the people who filled in a questionnaire were not sure about the plans. Quite a few clients at the meetings were not sure about the plans.
• Just over a quarter who filled in a questionnaire disagreed with the plans. Some of the people at the meetings disagreed with the plans, particularly the Conquest clients. Some of the people who wrote emails to us also disagreed with the plans.

Why people like the plans

• They like the fact that Beeching Park would have work done to make it better.
• Rooms like the kitchen and the computer room would be improved
• People would like to get involved in choosing paint colours and other things like pictures.
• They hope the plans would mean there would be more activities for them to take part in.
• They think it will be a good chance to help people get more involved in the local community and go on outings.

Why people don’t like the plans or are unsure about them

People said they don’t like the plans or are unsure about them because they are concerned about:

Travel and transport: People are worried about travel costs; travelling for longer; not being able to walk or catch the bus; or not being able to go to the toilet if their journey is longer.

People and noise: People are worried that Beeching Park isn’t big enough or would be too noisy.

Buildings and space: People are upset about Conquest closing, as they think it has a better garden and better parking. They are worried about whether there would be enough toilets at Beeching Park, particularly for wheelchair users. They are also concerned about staff and clients having to share toilets. People are worried that there wouldn’t be enough space at Beeching Park for people who need physio and sensory help. Putting the laundry room next to the sensory room would make it too noisy.

Staff and friends: People are worried that they might not have the same staff or be able to see their friends. They are also worried about making new friends or going to the same day service as people they don’t get on with.

Activities: People are worried about whether they would still be able to do the same activities and whether Beeching Park has the facilities that are needed, particularly the computer room and the garden.

How we can help people to prepare if the plans go ahead

People had lots of ideas for how we could help them to prepare. They also had ideas to make the services better.

Involving and helping people: Work closely with people to help them get used to the changes. People particularly want help with travel, getting used to the new service and making friends. People want to help choose paint and pictures.

Travel and transport: People had lots of ideas for helping people to get used to travelling to Beeching Park:

• Give people information about ways they could get to the service.
• Help people to try out different journeys to see which one they like best.
• Give people travel training so they can practise doing their new journey.
• Find travel buddies for people who are worried about travelling on their own.
• Look at other ways of making travel better. People could travel together. 
• Supported living providers could help bring other people to the service.    

Information

People said it is important to know what is happening with the plans. They had some ideas for how we share information:

• Use pictures to help people understand what is happening.
• Have better drawings of what Beeching Park would look like if the plans went ahead.
• Have an online forum or website.
• Have more meetings for parents and carers.
• Have meetings so that clients and staff from Conquest and Beeching Park can all meet each other.

People said they would like more information about:

• Why we plan to close Conquest rather than Beeching Park.
• Some people said Conquest has more  space and is in a better location.
• The activities that they will be able to do at Beeching Park.
• They would also like to know how people would get involved in the community.
• People who don’t want to go to Beeching Park would like to know what they could do instead.
• Lots of people visited Beeching Park and Working Wonders during the consultation. People said they would like to have more visits to Beeching Park. 

Activities:  People said they want to be able to do the same activities that they do now. They also wanted to have new activities to do. People want to know what activities there would be at Beeching Park. Some people said they would like more community activities.

They would also like to do activities that help other people.  Some people said they would like to learn new skills.

Easy read summary

Download the Easy Read consultation summary below:

Files:

• Day services consultation summary (easy read), 3.9 MB (PDF document)