Around 30 people, mainly family members of users of the service, turned out to picket outside a meeting on the fate of the centre at Carn Court last Wednesday between members of the Western Health and Social Care Trust and staff and clients of the centre. 

 

At the meeting the Trust relayed news to the staff and clients that Minister Hamilton had ordered the proposed closure of statutory homes should be halted and reviewed in light of pressures on private sector care centre providers, such as those the belonging to the Four Seasons group which recently announced the closure of seven of its homes.  

 

Carn Court was due to close in March 2016, following a Trust report in August this year which recommended clients go to either  Drumhaw or Tempo Road day centres in Enniskillen following the centre’s closure. That was despite opposition to the closure from over 400 locals during the consultation process carried out by the Trust. 

 

In a statement released to the Fermanagh Herald following last week’s meeting in Roslea, a spokesman for the Trust said: “Following the Trust Board’s decision on 6 August 2015 to move forward with the recommendations contained within the Reform of Older People’s Day Care Services Consultation Feedback Report, Trust representatives are undertaking a series of private meetings with the clients, their families and care managers to share with them, that the proposals approved by the Trust Board are currently with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, who will advise the Western Trust on how to proceed.”

 

Cllr Brian McCaffery, who joined in the picket along with Sean Lynch MLA, said he felt any savings made by closing the facility would be offset by the cost of travel for clients and extra staffing at other facilities. 

 

“Basically we have been told the matter is now with the Department of Health,” he said. “We will continuing pursuing the issue with the Department, and Sean Lynch is currently seeking a meeting with the Minister.”