A NEW £6m residential care home has been hailed as a massive step-change in setting new standards.

There were celebrations as Burnrigg Court, on the site of Carlisle’s former Morton School, was officially opened yesterday.

Cumbria County Council chairman Christine Bowditch cut the ribbon as residents, their relatives and staff marked the event with afternoon tea and a performance by members of Carlisle Ukulele Club.

The home, which replaces three outdated care facilities, boasts modern features to help the residents enjoy a better quality of life.

The design is expected to offer the person-centred care with facilities that will adapt as their needs change.

Registered manager of Burnrigg Court, Tracy Bindokas, said of the home: “It’s absolutely fantastic.

“We have never had facilities like this before. It has been purpose made for the residents.

“I’m happy, the staff are happy and the residents are happy. We’ve got a home that is beautiful with all the facilities to hand.”

Proud of the new build, Councillor Patricia Bell, the county council cabinet member for health and care services, said: “It was a plan that started a long time ago, a plan for serious investment into Cumbria Care.

“What we wanted was high-quality care homes so people had a choice of where they wanted to go.

“We needed space and a dementia-friendly environment, and it’s here.”

County council leader Stewart Young said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be here, this is the next step in our journey of modernising our care homes.

“It is always exciting to see all of our plans finally come to fruition and we get to see people actually in the home.”

Not everyone is happy about the changes that have been made to Cumbria Care.

Brent Kennedy, secretary of the Carlisle Socialist Party branch was outside the building in protest as the official opening took place.

He said: “We welcome the better facilities that are required, but why for only half of the people that used to get this care?

“We’re calling for the council to build two more homes just like this one - another in Carlisle and in west Cumbria to provide the places that they have cut.

“I cared for my mother at home for many years until that wasn’t practical. By cutting the number of beds it takes away that option. Secondly, full-time carers rely on respite care and there are no respite beds now.”

Mrs Bell responded, branding the socialists’ stance as “complete and utter rubbish”, adding: “What they have failed to listen to - what they have failed to remember - is that demand for residential care has gone down.

“Even though we have a rapidly ageing population. People are preferring to stay in their own homes for longer.

“Cumbria Care isn’t only about residential homes. It’s about supporting people in their own homes. We also need to remember people approaching the end of their life could need nursing care rather than residential.”