Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter, which relates to the withdrawal of respite care from patients in the Cherry Orchard Hospital in Ballyfermot, which is a very retrograde step. A number of constituents have contacted me on the matter. The rollover respite is being cut from May. The 24 places that were available will be cut back to 12. There is a fear that the other respite that is available might also be cut. Everything about this flies in the face of common sense. If respite is not available a number of elderly people will end up in accident and emergency units and ultimately in acute beds in hospitals thereby taking up more valuable space and time. As it is, families and carers are just about able to manage. To a certain extent their sanity depends on the availability of this respite. One of my constituents cares for her 84 year old mother who has Alzheimer's disease. She said it is like minding a baby 24 hours a day seven days a week. The only break she gets is through the respite that is available.

In 2007 the Cherry Orchard Hospital opened two new respite wards which were very welcome. However, that facility has now been cut in half which flies in the face of common sense. This facility that had been expanded with all the capital expense of providing additional beds and now it does not have the backup to provide the respite. I have written to the general manager and received a reply indicating that it would review it based on budgetary concerns etc. The budget should be made available to provide this service for the patients in Cherry Orchard. In addition to the cutting of the respite beds, which is the primary concern, home help is also being cut so it is a double whammy and people are being hit twice. I ask the Minister to review the situation regarding the Cherry Orchard Hospital.

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