MORE than 30 care home staff will be made redundant next month as a rehabilitation centre closes its doors.

On November 30 the Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) run Bridgewell Centre will stop operating.

The 32 members of staff who help improve the mobility and self-help skills of the Birch Hill facility's 42 inpatients will be made redundant.

Redundancy payouts will total £278,000, with the council forking out £191,000 and the CCG the remainder.

A report due to go before the council's employment committee tomorrow (October 4) notes that the redeployment of all Bridgewell staff will be "unlikely", although "a few posts for staff and managers" have been ring-fenced.

The centre is closing to allow BFC and the CCG to push ahead with plans to provide more community based, in-home rehabilitation.

A council spokesperson said: "The decision to decommission the Bridgewell Centre is to enable Bracknell Forest Council and the CCG to work in partnership to deliver an enhanced community based rehabilitation and care service for individuals in their own homes where possible and keeping people out of hospital, who do not need to be there, using specialist teams.

"The Council recognises that there will be people with complex needs who will not be able to return home immediately following a stay in hospital. Adult Social Care are in negotiation with private providers of Nursing Homes to provide the specialist care needed.

"The Bridgewell Centre is registered with the CQC as a residential Care Home, and is not equipped to manage people with complex nursing needs hence the need to commission services in a different way."

The new service will aim to help adult patients improve independence, prevent hospital admissions by helping people to more easily step up or down levels of care and allow health and social care staff to work closer together, amongst other goals.