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AN Omagh mother has called on the Western Health Trust to increase local respite care provision for people with disabilities, warning that families are being pushed to breaking point due to a lack of support.
Heather Bell, whose 22-year-old son Robbie had half of his brain disconnected at just one-years-old due to a rare condition called hemimegalencephaly, says the lack of daily and overnight respite services in Omagh is taking a toll.
At the moment, the Bells have to travel to Derry to avail of overnight respite care, a situation familiar to many others. She says the availability of day or short break opportunities locally has decreased in recent years, since Avalon House at Woodside Avenue – which caters for children – became a permanent facility in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.
The Western Trust said its Children with Disabilities Service’s short break provision is provided via two residential facilities in Omagh and Derry. However, the Trust added that short breaks had been temporarily postponed to support medium and long-term placements at both facilities.
Speaking to the Ulster Herald, Heather has warned about the mental health impacts being faced by parents in the same or a similar position to herself.
“I want to keep caring for my son, Robbie, for as long as I can and love him to bits. But I’m becoming worn out and tired by the responsibility because the absence of adequate respite care is having a negative effect,” she said.
“If Robbie doesn’t get out to see his peers on a regular weekly basis, then his behaviour changes and he can become frustrated and aggressive. He needs to have a routine and the opportunity to receive respite care at one of the centres in Omagh on a daily basis or overnight is vital.
“A lot of parents are in the same and often a worse position than myself. Since Avalon House only offered permanent places for under-18s, we have had to travel to Derry for overnight respite. It places an extra strain on us as parents when that opportunity comes about and many don’t even get that chance.
“The level of care being provided is excellent, but the availability is the problem. Families need a break and my son, like so many others, is entitled to a full life. He didn’t ask to be born with a disability.”
Currently, adult day services for people with learning disabilities are provided locally at the Omagh Centre at Arvalee and the Strathroy Centre, which offer leisure, educational and work-based activities.
Huge concern
The lack of respite care provision has also been highlighted by Omagh’s long-running Saturday Club, which for more than 20 years has provided children with special needs – and their parents — with valuable social and recreational opportunities.
Margaret Wilkinson, who has been centrally involved with the club throughout that time, says that the issue is a huge concern.
“There is a huge gap in the level of respite care currently being provided for children and their families locally,” she said.
“Since the arrangements for Avalon House changed more than five years ago, there has been no provision in Omagh for overnight respite care. Families of children with physical or learning disabilities are struggling and the issue has to be addressed.”
A spokesperson for the Western Trust said that they are working ‘strenuously’ to have a short-break capacity across the Trust area.
“Social work staff continue to work with all our families to provide alternative short break arrangements through Self Directed Support and access to Community and Voluntary Sector supports,” they added.
