Cummal Mooar - FAQs
What is happening with Cummal Mooar?
Cummal Mooar has provided a residential care facility to the north of the Island for over 40 years.
In that time standards, equipment and care provision has improved and modernised, and while steps have been taken to provide the best possible care in the existing facility, within the coming years this will no longer be feasible. A replacement facility will be required in order to continue providing a modern, fit-for-purpose service.
Is Cummal Mooar going to close?
Due to the layout, facilities and constraints of the current building it is not feasible to continue renovating the existing Cummal Mooar facility. In its current state it already requires a number of remedial works, and is unable to offer en-suite facilities, with a number of residents currently sharing facilities.
It would not be financially viable to address these issues and modernise the existing facility to ensure it is fit for the future needs of our community, and therefore a new, fit-for-purpose facility is required.
However, the intention is to keep the facility open for as long as it remains viable and safe to do so. Maintenance work will be required and prioritised to ensure the building remains safe and functional.
We cannot yet be sure how long Cummal Mooar will remain open and in time it will have to close. However, we are committed to providing staff and residents/their relatives with regular updates.
Will there be a replacement residential home?
The Department of Health and Social Care is committed to providing a new residential facility in the north of the Island. It is intended that construction will take place on the site that was originally earmarked, and the initial design is being reviewed to ensure flexibility of use in the future if required. Unfortunately, timescales for the new build are difficult to identify at this stage.
How will this affect residents?
Residents have always been, and will continue to be, our priority. Relatives, families and residents will be fully engaged in making decisions about future placements once decisions about the future of the existing home have been made.
New permanent admissions and respite placements will continue to be considered (subject to the home being able to safely meet the needs of existing residents as well as any new admissions). Prior to them moving in, any new permanent residents and their families will be informed that discussions are taking place in relation to the future of the home.
How will this affect staff?
Manx Care will continue to keep staff updated and once decisions about the future of Cummal Mooar have been made. Discussions with individual colleagues will be held to look at and agree options. This may include redeployment at a new facility in the north of the Island, or it is likely that alternative opportunities will also be available within Manx Care. Ensuring appropriate staffing levels, and support, in the interim will be a focus to make sure residents’ needs are met.
How will residents and staff be kept up to date?
Meetings will be held in August with staff, residents and their families to ensure they are fully updated and given the opportunity to ask questions.
Our intention is that a further update will be made within 3 months.
We are committed to keeping residents, families and staff updated and this will be done through staff briefing sessions at Cummal Mooar, written updates for residents and families, as well as in-person meetings if there are significant changes.
Why hasn’t the new facility progressed yet?
Funding for the design of a replacement facility in the north of the Island had been approved, with a site picked for development (following a land swap with Ramsey Town Commissioners).
Due to the global increase in costs (with the rapid rise in inflation and materials) there was a significant increase in construction costs - the most recent estimate for the construction had risen to in excess of £13m, almost doubling the initial estimate.
This global rise in costs affected a number of capital projects, and to manage the impact of this Treasury have made changes to their processes for Government Departments to access the funding they need for projects as large as this.
These changes were brought in to ensure that the funding process was robust and responsive, following incidents of approved business cases becoming inaccurate as costs were affected by the unprecedented increases.
This means the Department of Health and Social Care is now working with Manx Care to ensure the design of the proposed new building is fit for purpose, before returning to Treasury for updated funding approval.
