The Future of Blackburn Lodge Care Home

Kent County Council (KCC) is running a consultation on the future of Blackburn Lodge Residential Care Home on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. The proposal is to permanently close Blackburn Lodge.

The Council is working with local people, the Borough Council and local organisations to develop services on the Isle of Sheppey that meet the needs of local people and are fit for the future. This work is important to undertake whether Blackburn Lodge is re-opened or permanently closed, because we need a good understanding of the future needs and possibilities for supporting people who live on the Isle of Sheppey.

In November 2023 the building was temporarily closed because of emergency health and safety concerns. A safety inspection identified high levels of iron in the piped water used for drinking and bathing that was 20 times higher than permitted levels. This was caused by the degradation of the ageing water pipe system. The 13 permanent residents were moved to alternative residential accommodation because it was not safe for them to stay at Blackburn Lodge. In addition, the older people’s day care service was temporarily suspended at Blackburn Lodge. The Council’s local Adult Social Care Community Team worked with the 16 attendees to make alternative arrangements for them where possible.

The regulator, The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has said that Blackburn Lodge would not meet the current standards for registration as a care home if it were to be built today. Blackburn Lodge has no en-suite bathrooms, and the general layout makes access poor, and this limits who can stay there.

Despite a programme of improvement works in recent years, there are a number of building issues including subsidence and the water pipe system, which will require a considerable amount of money to fix. It has been estimated that to bring Blackburn Lodge up to current CQC standards would cost £4 million and could take 13 months to complete from commencement of any work. Regardless of the outcome of this consultation there is no prospect of Blackburn Lodge re-opening in the near future because of the time that would be needed to complete the work on the building.

Have your say

Before any decisions are made, we want to hear the your views on our proposal to permanently close Blackburn Lodge Care Home.

Please, tell us what you think by completing the online questionnaire on this page. Alternatively, you can find the Word version in the Documents section which you can download and email to us (or print and post).

What happens next?

After the consultation closes, feedback from the consultation, alongside the Equality Impact Assessment, will be presented to the Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee before a decision is made by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health.

We will publish a consultation report on this webpage, summarising the consultation responses. An email will also be sent to those who complete the online questionnaire and select that that they want to be kept informed of KCC consultations.