An Angus physical rehabilitation centre will close at the start of next year and see its services delivered across the community.
The Glenloch centre is based at Whitehills Health and Community Care Centre in Forfar.
But from January its services will move to places such as sports centres.
Health chiefs say it is aimed at using “limited resources” as effectively as possible.
But there’s concern about the change among families who say it offers “lifeline” support.
Independent living skills
Angus Health and Social Care Partnership confirmed the move in a letter to Glenloch users this week.
The centre helps adults recovering from an illness or injury that has had a major affect on their ability to be active and independent.
It encourages them to develop and maintain daily living skills to live independently.
And it supports people who have a condition which gets worse over time.
A spokesperson said staff will become the physical disabilities community opportunities team.
“They will make best use of community assets, including local sports centres, to provide a service that covers the whole of Angus,” they said.
“This change follows a service review aimed at ensuring limited resources are used as efficiently and effectively as possible in meeting the needs of service users.”
Users consulted
The spokesperson added: “The review itself was prompted by the rehabilitation service at Glenloch being underused and efforts to increase referrals to it being unsuccessful.
“Staff have been involved and informed throughout the service review, as have other key stakeholders, including current and past service users, care managers, other health professionals and trade unions.
“There will be no change to staff numbers as a result of the re-design.
“Any decision concerning the future of the Glenloch building will be taken in due course.”
Social interaction
One local said: “My dad is severely disabled and has been visiting the Glenloch centre for a couple of years.
“To describe it as a lifeline would be an understatement.
“Some weeks it’s the only time he gets to leave the house.”
They added: “It’s the highlight of his week and the only socialisation he gets outside of close family and visiting carers.
“Just as crucially, it has been the only access to physio because in Angus there is just no availability for that at home.
“We hope the friendly staff dad bonded with are all still in post.
“We haven’t seen a letter about changes and don’t know how it’s going to work from January.
“But I can’t see him getting to do carpentry or painting at a sports centre.”
