Petition to: reconsider the decision to close beeches short break respite centre in Reigate

This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed.

We the undersigned petition Surrey County Council to reconsider the decision to close beeches short break respite centre in Reigate. More details Submitted by Paul Placitelli – Deadline to sign up by: 09 January 2013 – Signatures: 1,291

Petition update from the council, 23 August 2012, while petition was still open The Beeches is run by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, commissioned by NHS Surrey. Over recent months, NHS Surrey has been reviewing the respite care it commissions for children with disabilities. This took into account what services are available, how much they are used and recent changes to how respite care is provided. NHS Surrey concluded that there is an opportunity to provide respite care in a better way and therefore intends to decommission Beeches. Surrey County Council has not made this decision so this petition on the council's website cannot affect this decision. However, the county council has shared this petition with NHS Surrey.



Surrey County Council has been actively working with the parents affected, alongside our health partners, to review their child’s care package and individual health needs to ensure we find suitable alternative provision. No child or young person will lose their short break provision because of this decision. Applewood Children’s Home in Tadworth has the capacity to provide the appropriate support needed for all the children and young people currently using Beeches. The local NHS has committed to providing a three-year grant towards the cost of care for those children who transfer from Beeches to Applewood.



Plans are being made to ensure that alternative provision for the children and young people at Beeches will be in place by December 2012.

More details from petition creator Surrey county council and NHS surrey borders partnership trust have taken the decision to close beeches short break respite centre in Reigate for reasons stated as cost and underusage. Parents of children at nearby Brooklands School and other special schools in Surrey are struggling to understand how this can be as many have had their requests for respite care refused, and those that have managed to have their requests met have had to fight tooth and nail to get them, with many giving up in frustration. Lots of parents are concerned that specialist centres continue to offer safe levels of care for those children with the most complex disabilities, a safe environment for children on the autistic spectrum and a calm environment for more vulnerable children. We urgently ask the SCC and borders trust to reconsider their decision.