Cutbacks in Government capital spending mean plans to develop new facilities for people with learning disabilities are on hold, an assistant CEO of the North Western Health Board has confirmed.
Mr Pat Dolan told The Irish Times that despite the findings of a new study highlighting the need for several new community-based group homes and respite centres, he is under Government orders not to open any new contracts but to only proceed with those started in 2001.
Overruns in capital spending under the National Development Plan (NDP) is given as the reason for the halting of new projects. The health board cannot therefore be sure of getting money originally promised under the NDP for capital projects.
In practical terms this means that plans to purchase properties for two community-based group homes and a respite centre this year are on hold.
Mr Dolan said he believed the new government would give the go-ahead for projects to proceed. "I feel it is a temporary lull and that in the next month or two the government will allow the health boards to proceed," he said.
The board had planned to provide new homes by purchasing houses itself and by working with voluntary associations, whose remit is to provide social housing. Given that the board cannot start any new contracts, it is now relying solely on housing associations, and Mr Dolan said he accepted there was a long lead-in time for these schemes. He said he was confident, however, that social housing projects could meet most of the need in the long term.
He stressed there had been significant increases in funding and said an additional 200 people had been employed to work in services for people with learning disabilities.
The report, unveiled at this week's meeting of the health board, highlights an alarming mismatch between services and facilities provided and those required.
Entitled "A New Voice in Planning - Report on current and future needs of People with a Learning Disability in Sligo/Leitrim and West Cavan 2001-6", it is a comprehensive study of the views of the people who use the service, their families and carers. Responses were given for 838 people, or 94 per cent of those known to have a learning disability in the region.
It states that the board and its partner providers must "not only reconfigure existing provision but provide a significant number of staffed, small ordinary homes in the community". It must also provide "enhanced home support and respite services to enable those who want to live at home to do so", and "considerably increased opportunity for people with learning disabilities to live independently or semi-independently".
It says there is "an urgent necessity" to develop an action plan, which would include an "extensive resettlement process".
Mr Dolan said the board had inherited a situation where a large proportion of people with only a mild disability were in large residential centres, although they did not need to be in such accommodation. The priority now was to keep people at home or in community group-home settings.
Of the 838 adults and children interviewed, 71 per cent had a mild or moderate learning disability. A total of 263 are accommodated in large residential centres, 402 live at home, 128 live in community group homes and 45 are in independent/semi-independent settings.
In one large residential centre, Cloonamahon, 72 people or 55 per cent of all the residents, said their overwhelming wish was to live in the community in group homes. In the other large centre, Cregg House, 91 people or 41 per cent of residents said the same.
A number of findings highlight the stark need for improved services. While 119 people currently avail of respite provision, another 238 want respite care but have not been able to get it. In the vast majority of cases people only get respite care for one or two weeks a year.
Home support, where families get an average of five hours help per week, is provided to 60 individuals but another 220 are seeking the service. The study also found that 49 people have no formal day service. These people are therefore at home all day, every day.
It states that six additional resource centres are needed to provide locally based day programmes and opportunities to enhance quality of life. Mr Dolan said 40 new day places were to be made available and two new resource centres would be established, one in Sligo and one in Leitrim.
An additional 50 people are to get home support out of the 220 seeking it, and this would go to those in most urgent need.
In relation to respite care, he said it had opened a seven-bed respite centre in Sligo town last year but because of the restrictions on funding it could not go ahead with plans to acquire a new centre in Leitrim.
Mr Dolan said respite care was a priority for the health board, "because if we can't give carers respite, the bottom line is that they won't be able to continue caring".