Ferndown, Health & Lifestyle, Purbeck, Verwood, Weymouth | Posted on January 27th, 2026 | return to news

Verwood and Ferndown care centres to be enhanced

A three-month consultation, meetings across Care Dorset’s 13 day centres and a series of online sessions have led to plans to improve services.

Following a three-month consultation, services to day care centres across Dorset will be enhanced in the coming months.

Improvements will be made following the engagement process, which took place last year.

Verwood Connect will be developed into a specialist hub for adults with learning disabilities in the east of the county.

Meanwhile, the proposed closure of Ferndown Plus will no longer go ahead. Instead, the centre will be retained and developed, with the Care Dorset contract reviewed to allow the building to become a community asset for local people, complementing other local services. All existing clients will continue to receive services.

Services across North Dorset, Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset and Purbeck will also be enhanced.

The plans aim to deliver more flexible, community-based services that promote independence, wellbeing and social inclusion, while continuing to provide specialist support for people with complex needs.

Cllr Steve Robinson, Cabinet portfolio holder for Adult Social Care, said the council had listened to concerns raised during the consultation, which showed strong community attachment to existing centres, alongside openness to greater flexibility and opportunities for younger people.

Speaking ahead of next week’s People and Health Overview Committee, Cllr Robinson said: “We want to provide residents with greater choice and independence through the use of Direct Payments and Individual Service Funds, giving them more freedom to do what they want in their local community.

“We also want to make greater use of existing community facilities in towns across Dorset, working alongside the NHS and the voluntary sector, integrating services with local community resources and aligning ourselves with wider prevention and early help priorities in an efficient way.”