Peterborough set to be left without hydrotherapy provision as Lime Academy sessions to end

Residents in Peterborough are set to be left without any hydrotherapy service after the city council announced its intentions to end sessions at the Lime Academy Orton on July 1.

The sessions have been hosted on the school’s Orton Clayton Campus in Orton Goldhay since October following the council's decision to close St George’s Hydrotherapy pool in Dogsthorpe the previous April.

The sessions began on a four-week trial basis but have since been extended to encourage use but the council has said that usage has been “much lower than expected" with only around 15 percent of the sessions booked each week.

In April and May this year, the council has said that it has had to subsidise the pool to the extent of £3960 and £4392 respectively.

St George's Friends and Service Users have previously hit out at the prices of the sessions, which they have said had deterred many from taking part in the trial.

Sessions were priced at £12 with no concessions for children or carers and this only provided access to the pool, not any medical screening or any aquatic physiotherapy advice or support. The carers charge was later dropped.

Most equivalent schemes offered in the county or by other councils charge less than half the price.

The users group has said that it is “very sorry” at the loss of the provision but did not expect the user numbers to be high due to the barriers to using the pool.

Lead Karen Oldale said: “St George's Friends and Service Users are very sorry to learn this. We are especially concerned for all those hydrotherapy users who regularly attended and depended on the public sessions at Lime Academy. However, we did advise that owing to a number of barriers the take-up for Lime Academy from St George's former users was likely to be low.

"We know the closure of St George's continues to have a serious and negative impact on the health and wellbeing of so many of its former users, all of whom have disabilities or health conditions.

"Please be assured we will continue to do all we can do to try to ensure there will be short and long-term community hydrotherapy provision for those who need it in the city.”

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson added: “Bearing in mind that all sessions would need to be booked for the pool to cover its costs, this low usage has meant the council has had to subsidise the pool to the tune of around £4,000 each month.

“The council continues to face financial challenges and to be able to provide the services we need to for a growing population, with more complex needs, we have to think carefully about how we spend taxpayers' money.

"It is not the responsibility of the council to provide hydrotherapy services for its residents, and therefore we cannot continue to subsidise sessions at the Lime Academy."

Plans for a new hydrotherapy pool at Thistlemoor Medical Centre are in the process of being modified after being withdrawn earlier this month but any provision at the site is still expected to be years away.