SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood.
SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood has said moves to potentially close two residential care homes in Derry will be opposed.
Mr Eastwood made the comment after Western Health and Social Care Trust stated that it will proceed with proposals to “cease admissions and determine the future” of William Street and Rectory Field residential care homes. In a statement today the Trust said it will now commence a consultation process on the proposals.
Mr Eastwood said: “When the Western Trust first announced plans to close these homes as part of the Transforming Your Care Programme in 2013, elderly residents took to the streets in protest. They were assured that the homes would remain open with no decision to be made until 2015.
“It seems that the decision taken then has only been deferred and it is disappointing that the residents, their families and staff now find themselves in the same position of uncertainty.
“The care facilities at William Street and Rectory Field provide for some of the most vulnerable in our society. Any decisions made on the future of the homes must be taken with their best interests in mind, not budget cuts masquerading as reform.
“Derry is a city with an ageing population and it is important that care home provision is adequate to meet our needs. Any moves to close these homes should be and will be opposed,” Mr Eastwood added.
