Parents’ distress at lack of care for daughter
Disabled woman is staying at hospital
A COUPLE whose intellectually disabled daughter is in hospital as a more suitable place was not provided for her say they’re at their wits’ end.
The couple, in their sixties, have been pleading with the HSE for weeks for a suitable place for their daughter, in her twenties, but they have been told there is ‘ no money’ for the residential place she needs.
Matters came to crisis point last week when a series of events saw gardaí contacted and the woman brought to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where she remains.
AGING parents in Louth are ‘ being left on their own’ when it comes to caring for their children, many of whom are now in their forties and fifties, according to the group, Dundalk Parents and Friends of the Intellectually Disabled, who this week highlighted a shocking recent case.
A couple in their sixties whose daughter, aged in her twenties, has an intellectual disability and challenging behaviour, have been pleading for help from the HSE for weeks after the St John of God Services (SJOG) in Drumcar said they are no longer able to look after her properly.
The situation reached crisis point last week when the couple and their daughter were out shopping and the young woman started having tantrums and tried to run away from her parents. Her mum and dad contacted neighbours to come to help them and they brought their daughter to the facility at Drumcar, but were told SJOG was not able to look after her.
The young woman remained distressed and the Gardai were contacted, along with an ambulance, who brought her to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where she remains in an acute bed. Chairperson of the Dundalk Parents and Friends Group, Mary Darcy, said the situation the couple find themselves in is ‘appalling in this day and age’. She said the group has identified a care facility for the young woman, but they believe that funding is not available so she can take it up.
Mary said: ‘Parents are being essentially left on their own when it comes to caring for their grown-up children. The situation with this family reached crisis point last week and this young woman is in hospital when she really needs to be a proper care facility. We believe it’s not down to a lack of suitable places - it’s simply down to money in our view.
‘And this couple are not the only one. We are aware of a man in his nineties who is looking after his daughter, who has Down Syndrome and who is aged in her fifties. He’s on his own too.
‘It’s hard to believe this is happening to people, many of whom have spent their lives battling just to get the basics. Many are left on their own by the State when it comes to care’.