Date set for Shrewsbury respite centre closure

Oak House, which serves people with complex disability and emotional needs, has been earmarked for closure for some time.

The unit, which is overseen by Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group and Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, is the only nursing unit in the county for people with severe disabilities and severe complex needs.

But families who use the facility say they will only be offered a placement in residential care where there are no nursing staff on site or alternatively community based care with outreach care which would not offer the much needed respite for the families involved once it closes.

Annette Evans said: "These decisions have been made against people who cannot voice their own opinions and they are being placed in places or situations which are alien to them.

"My daughter uses Oak House for respite and has done so for many years. She has multiple medical needs. She has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, severe epilepsy and silicosis of her spine which affects her positioning and lately breathing conditions of which she needs a machine at night to help her and needs to be monitored round the clock. I feel very confident about whilst she is in respite as she has all the medical support that is needed for her condition.

"In the residential care that has been offered as an alternative there is no medical staff on site and this is very worrying to us."

Mrs Evans added: "At the moment there are about 18 people accessing Oak House. This has been greatly reduced over the last couple of years as funding has been named as the cause of this.

"This respite care is really a lifeline to so many families and this will put a lot of extra stress on families."

In a joint statement Fran Beck, executive lead for commissioning for Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group and Dr Julie Davies, director of performance and delivery for Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “The priority of the CCGs is to ensure that people with learning disabilities have the care they need from the NHS to meet their complex needs.

“A review of community learning disability services has been taking place over the past two years. It has highlighted the need for services to support people in their own homes and communities as well as provide more individualised support to ensure individual health needs are met.

“We have been exploring with families and carers of those who use Oak House to see how we could provide a broader range of community based support to meet their individual care and respite needs in the future.

“We are now confident we have found the right services to meet these needs and are implementing a transition plan for service users and their families to be supported through community-based providers.

“We realise that this may be unsettling for some people who have used Oak House for a considerable time. The CCGs and local authorities are committed to ensuring they are fully supported during the transition and that all care will continue to be provided at Oak House until suitable alternatives are found for each service user between now and the end of June.”