Extra £2.3 million sought for care home that's gone over budget

DHSC seeking more money for Summerhill View

An additional £2.3 million is being sought to pay for a new care home which has gone over budget.

The Department of Health and Social Care will ask Tynwald to approve the extra money for Summerhill View.

If successful it means the budget for the project will reach £14,905,000.

In January the development, which sits on the site of the former Glenside care home, was said to be nearing completion.

However, unlike originally planned, it was revealed that Manx Care was looking at employing an independent provider to run the facility because it didn’t think it could meet the staffing requirements.

The 60-bed home, and associated day care centre, will replace Reayrt ny Baie which has been deemed no longer fit for purpose.

Initially a budget of £12,557,000 was agreed but in December 2023 the new cost forecast of more than £14 million was outlined.

This led to the DHSC gaining Treasury and Council of Ministers approval to return to Tynwald for a supplementary vote which it will do this month.

The department has blamed increased construction costs, regulatory and best practice guidelines changing and failure of a ‘key product component’ for the overspend.

It says a number of things have contributed to the overall cost increase including challenges within the building material supply chain as ongoing Covid-19 and inflationary pressures continued.

It adds changes were also ‘instructed’ at a point in the project when all design issues should have been closed out resulting in ‘contractual compensation events’.

If Tynwald approval is gained Treasury will provide the money from the capital financing reserve in respect of the excess expenditure the department has incurred during the 2023-2024 financial year.

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