A Derry girl has made an emotional plea for planned cuts to respite care for her young brother to be stopped.
Services at the Children’s Respite Cottage on Dungiven Road in the Waterside are under review.
MLA Maeve McLaughlin has revealed that planned changed there would save just £40.000. The Western Health and Social Care Trust is in the middle of £7M of cuts.
“We’re told it might stay open but my wee brother wouldn’t go there anymore and he’d have to travel to Omagh,” said the sister.
“My brother is 11. He goes to The Cottages for three or four days every month and he absolutely loves it. It gives my mummy a rest for a few days.
“But I don’t know what we will do if The Cottages closes or if hours are cut. We were told there are facilities that would suit my brother in Omagh but we don’t drive, don’t have a car and even going by bus would be a nightmare,” she said.
The Cottages review is part of a wider review into its provision of short-term breaks for patients, their families and carers within the Western area.
The Children’s Respite Cottage is a six-bedded unit which provides regular, short-term respite care for children with a learning disability, and any associated conditions.
It houses children aged from five to 18, and its staff are equipped to care for children who may have additional health problems.
Foyle Sinn Fein MLA and chair of the Assembly’s Health Committee Maeve McLaughlin told Derry Daily last week proposed cuts would save just £40,000 but would have devastating consequences for the children and their carers and parents or guardians.
