Fight will continue for long term future of respite centre
THE fight to keep a West Sligo dementia respite care centre open will continue if the necessary funding is not secured by October.
The dementia respite care centre in Kilglass was saved in February when the HSE agreed to continue funding it until October.
But, if no long term solution is found by then, the campaign will have to continue.
Vanessa Jones has been a key figure in the campaign, as her mother is a service user. She says the centre provides a vital service to families and people with dementia.
“It’s so important. It’s brilliant for full- time carers looking after their loved ones,” she told The Sligo Champion.
“I’m a full- time carer for my Mum, she was diagnosed in the last eight years.
“It’s great because it gives me a break and it gives her time with other people going through something similar and she gets to listen to music and all of that.”
The ‘ Home from Home’ campaign began when funding for the respite centre came to an end. Initially set up as a pilot, the centre was hugely successful.
Councillor Thomas Healy, another figure central to the campaign, explained the situation: “The HSE are going to carry on funding the centre until October. We were told it would be closed by the 24th of February.
“The group GENIO funded it for three years as a pilot to see how it would work. And to be honest it over- excelled. So they presented this to the HSE in order to get funding. The HSE were happy with it but later ran into difficulty. So myself other family members of residents got together and sort of started a campaign. It doesn’t cost that much to run it, it’s about € 50,000 a year.”
He added: “A nurse comes to the house, picks up the person, brings them to the centre and they get a meal there in a really nice environment. It’s second to none really. Two jobs were saved when we got the funding from the HSE. There are about 16- 19 people using it. The patients will still need the service somewhere else. “
Councillor Healy feels that the HSE’s commitment to fund- ing, although only short term, is a positive sign.
“The HSE putting funding into it is a sign that something is going well. It shows you that in rural Ireland people will fight for something and we’re trying to save jobs. Rural Ireland should be thought of more highly. This is not a quick fix. We need a long term solution for this.”
Vanessa says that come October, should there be no funding agreement, they will keep up their campaign.
“We’ll have to fight again ( if nothing is agreed). Martin Kenny TD said he is confident that if there isn’t anything in place by October that they will have to keep funding.”
Last Saturday’s Beltra Market had a ‘ Denim for Dementia’ theme to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s society.