Campaigners ‘cautiously optimistic’ on Dail Mhor
CAMPAIGNERS trying to reverse the decision to close Dail Mhor care home in Strontian say they are ‘cautiously optimistic’ after a recent NHS Highland board meeting.
But they have been left frustrated by proposals set out in a strategic healthcare report which, they say, fails to map out the long-term future of respite care at the home – a situation which has been described as ‘wholly unacceptable’ by one community councillor.
A fortnight ago, the Lochaber Times reported that the community councils of west Lochaber launched a petition calling for NHS Highland to immediately reopen the Strontian care home’s facilities, which has garnered almost 1,500 signatures already.
Buoyed by this support, a group of representatives from West Ardnamurchan, Acharacle, Morvern, Ardgour and Sunart community councils travelled to Inverness last Tuesday, March 27, to hear first-hand how the proposals of a strategy paper were received by the NHS Highland board.
The community delegation was disappointed to hear that the paper’s proposals simply consisted of a plan to establish a management panel, which, they say, fails to adequately lay out a future plan for care provision in the Strontian area.
‘This is a clear case of cart before the horse,’ said Joanne Matheson, of Acharacle Community Council, speaking immediately after the meeting. ‘How can a sensible decision be made about how commissioning decisions are to be made, and by whom, without a clear framework for what those commissioned services should look like?’
The community council representatives hoped that this strategic paper would outline NHS Highland’s vision for how care home services should be provided in future and lay the groundwork to enable NHS management to make a longterm decision on Dail Mhor.
Mrs Matheson added: ‘While I was reassured to see that many board members were as upset as we were to find that the paper wasn’t what they were expecting, this means that five individuals, their friends and families have suffered unnecessarily for yet more weeks, and people with urgent respite needs in the community are not getting them.
‘NHS Highland board members clearly stated that facilities must not be closed until an alternative is in place. I have secured a commitment from David Park, chief officer north Highland, to meet with us urgently to review why this is effectively what has happened in the case of Dail Mhor House.’
Dail Mhor care home closed last August due to an emergency plumbing issue, with all five residents being relocated on the understanding that repair work would take approximately two weeks to complete.
This led community representatives to conclude that full and permanent closure of the facility was NHS Highlands’ ‘objective’.
The health board did agree to reinstate daytime services at the beginning of March following intense community pressure, but there is general agreement among the community councils that the priority is for respite and residential services to return to Dail Mhor.
Gill Calver, of West Ardnamurchan Community Council, claimed that NHS representatives had been ‘unwilling’ to work with the community.
‘I was particularly pleased that board members proposed that full involvement of communities should be a basic principal of undertaking strategic development of care provision,’ she said.
‘The fact that this hasn’t so far been the case with Dail Mhor just goes to highlight the inadequacy of the current system, and I really hope that that will change very soon.’
To sign the Dail Mhor care home petition, go online to change.org and search ‘reopen Dail Mhor’.