THE public is urged to help shape the future of day services for people with dementia as a Somerset County Council contract expires in January.

County Hall has opened a public engagement exercise on day services for people with Azheimer’s disease, dementia and other mental health problems.

The authority wants as many people as possible to take part in the survey and says no proposals have yet been made.

But one man, who does not want to be named, fears Stratfield House in Wellington will close once the survey is concluded.

He said: “Stratfield House is a fantastic resource for the people of Wellington.

“The users still live in their own homes and would otherwise have very little interaction with anybody in the community and it gives them a hot meal three-days-a-week.”

The council has started a survey at surveymonkey.co.uk in order to “understand how services are working.”

The website says: “By taking time to seek out and ask the right people a set of planned questions, we are able to better understand how current services are performing. In turn, this helps the council to plan for the future and will ensure future services are fit for purpose and adaptable to changing needs.

“The information that is given here will remain anonymous and will form part of an important planning exercise which will see the creation of a new model of services for adults living with dementia or other functional mental health needs.

“The survey is designed to be completed by people with dementia or other functional mental health needs and their carers. It may be easier to complete one survey per person.”

A spokesman for Somerset County Council said there are no proposals at this stage but when there are, discussions will be held with all concerned.

“The current contract for day activities for people with dementia and other mental health needs expires at the end of January and we are looking at the best way to provide this support in the future, the spokesman said.

“We always carry out a review at the end of a contract and believe hearing the views and needs of those who use the services should be at the centre of this.

“We are therefore asking people who use the services, their carers, partner organisations and professional for their opinions about how things work now and where they can be improved and done differently.”

The deadline to return the survey is 5pm on May 31.

To take part, visit the survey by clicking here.