Disabled man’s allowance cut to pay for care

A SEVERELY physically and mentally disabled man is to lose three quarters of his disability allowance towards the cost of his respite care.

The 30-year-old from Co Kilkenny receives €203 per week – but was told this month that €153.25 will now be deducted towards the cost of his upkeep in a residential care home.

Kilkenny County Councillor Michael O’Brien, who raised the issue at yesterday’s regional health forum of the Health Service Executive (HSE) South, said the deduction would have major implications for the man’s family, whose only source of income is his father’s invalidity pension.

“The family had kept him at home until recently but he now needs five days respite care.

“His disability allowance meant a lot to the family, but two days ago, they got a letter from the service provider stating that ‘legal opinion’ received from the HSE meant he now had to pay towards his care.

“This is very upsetting and difficult for his family,” the Labour councillor said.

However Pat Healy, HSE assistant national director of Primary, Community and Continuing Care in the HSE South, said the charge was applied across all long-stay residential care services on foot of the 2005 Health (Amendment) Act.

This allows the HSE, or agencies providing services on its behalf, to charge a person for long-stay in-patient services, including homes for people with physical/intellectual disabilities. Mr Healy said it appeared the Kilkenny service provider was only now applying the 2005 legislation. “The majority of homes would have charged well before now,” he said.

Mr O’Brien also raised the lack of facilities for stroke victims in the south east. He said a fellow councillor had a stroke last year but had been unable to access an MRI at Waterford Regional Hospital. “It was not possible to have an MRI after 5pm on a Friday, she would have to wait until Monday,” Mr O’Brien said.

Gerry O’Dwyer, HSE network manager for the south, said a 24-hour CT scan service was available and was recommended in the case of stroke. However Mr O’Brien said in the case of his colleague, the CT scan failed to pick up what was seen on the MRI.

Outside the forum, parents of children with diabetes who attend the paediatric diabetes service at Cork University Hospital, protested at the HSE’s failure to replace the paediatric dietician who is on maternity leave. Cork Cllr Catherine Clancy raised the issue and secured a meeting next week between herself, the Diabetes Federation of Ireland Cork parents’ support group and Mr O’Dwyer.

Mr O’Dwyer said they had an area employment monitoring group to look at individual cases. He said the embargo on recruitment meant they were unable to cover maternity leave, but that there were four other dieticians in the service who have paediatric training.