Care plan for disabled people ‘must be provided’

HEALTH service providers have a responsibility to put in place a long-term care plan for disabled people to spare elderly parents the “terrifying prospect” that there will be no place for them to go, it was claimed yesterday.

The national association for people with an intellectual disability (NAMHI) said funding should be linked to a person, rather than a service, to ensure full care was provided if the person’s family becomes ill or passes away.

“Why are they terrifying elderly people by telling them there are no resources and putting them in a position of fear?” NAMHI general secretary Deirdre Carroll asked.