‘Families are finding it difficult to cope, this news came out of the blue’

A 40 per cent cut in high support day services at a Navan-based unit for adults with disabilities is having a devastating impact on service users and their families.

An Castán, a high support day service for adults with disabilities which is based on the Commons Road in Navan has cut is services from five days a week to three.

Service users and their families who are greatly dependent on the service have been left shattered by the cuts.

The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA), who took over the running of the service in recent years, said the reduction was due to a difficulty in recruiting staff, but say they are working tirelessly to restore the full service.

The sister-in-law of one service user said the families are finding it very difficult to cope.

Her brother-in-law has Down Syndrome, is non-verbal and wears nappies due to incontinence. He is almost 47, his mother is 87 and father 91. He has a carer that comes in to get him dressed in the morning, and to put him to bed at night. While, he doesn’t have challenging behaviour, he needs 24-hour care and supervision.

“About three weeks ago, my husband took a phone call from the centre. They said that due to staffing, they could only offer my brother-in-law three days a week.

“He had always been in five days.

“This is not good enough. He needs the care five days, as his parents need the daily respite. They need to be able to rest while he is gone to his day centre. The change in his routine has been really hard on his family. When he is at home, his parents don’t rest. It has really upset his family life, and also impacted on the wider family.

“I know from speaking to other parents with adult children that also go to the same unit, that they are finding it very difficult to cope. This all came from out of the blue with no warning.

“We as a family feel that this standard of service just isn’t good enough. These adults went through almost two years of sitting at home during Covid. Now, they need to get back and stay in their day services for their own health and for the welfare of their families at home.”

Deputy Darren O'Rourke raised the cuts in the Dáil this week and called for ministerial and departmental intervention, pointing out that 14 adults are greatly dependent on the service.

“It is a vital lifeline and support for those using it, and for their families. Before Christmas, services for all 14 were cut by 40 per cent, from five days to three days. This is devastating and is having a huge impact.

“These are adults with considerable needs. It is a high-support service. They need significant support. Many of them are immobile, incontinent or non-verbal. They are in desperate need of these services.

“The Irish Wheelchair Association states it is living with a recruitment and retention crisis. It understandably points to the need for pay parity with HSE counterparts, but it is service users and their families that suffer in the meantime. The services need to be reinstated.

“It is a damning indictment of our health system if we cannot support those in greatest need.

A spokesperson for the IWA said they had to reduce the service in November due to the staff challenges with recruitment and retention.

“We have had numerous staff leave the service who have sought alternative employment with the HSE.

“Communication was made to all families to explain that each service users’ service would be reduced to a three-day week over the five days per week. The HSE were notified of the ongoing challenges we face and the reduction of service delivery.

“This decision wasn’t made lightly but was a necessary measure, to ensure we continue to deliver a safe service to those who attend with the current resources we have available to us.

“However, we are hopeful following a significant effort being put into a recruitment drive that the issues will be resolved very soon.

“We have been successful in identifying candidates to join the IWA An Castán team. However, onboarding, including Garda Vetting, training and other administrative pre-employment compliance needs have to be met and this can take time.

“As soon as this is over the line, we will be looking to re-instate the schedule to a full service as before.

“Our aim is to ensure that we can continue to provide a quality, safe, person-centred service to our members, and we are working tirelessly towards achieving that.”