Under threat.. Creamery House, Kesh
A PUBLIC MEETING will take place on Tuesday May 5 against the proposed closure of Creamery House care home in Kesh.
The proposals were revealed a number of weeks in a document detailing cost-cutting measures that the Western Trust has proposed as part of £13m worth of savings that must be made in the next year.
The care home currently caters for seven residents, and has four vacant beds. The document suggests that the care home is ‘not economically viable’ in the current financial spend.
The document also proposes to re-model Mantlin Court in Kesh as a ‘supported living service’.
“The Trust will develop a plan to re-provide the existing residential accommodation (17 bedded unit) to a 14 bedded supported living unit in line with projected demand during 2015/16.”
The public meeting will take place in Kesh Community Hall on Tuesday May 5 at 7pm. A petition has also been started, which has received support from elected representatives, the local General practitioners and business’s in the surrounding areas.
Local UUP and Erne North councillor Raymond Farrell is strongly against the closure.
“Creamery House is not merely a statutory home situated in the village of Kesh. For the residents who live here for many years it is home, their sanctuary and place they feel safe. They know the staff not just as workers, but as friends, people they feel secure in and really as ‘family’. The village of Kesh they have got to know as have the people in the village got to know them and relationships have been nurtured and built up. I believe it is essential we speak up for and represent the residents as well as the dedicated staff in Creamery House. I urge the people to get behind this campaign and sign the petition and attend the public meeting.”
Jill Weir, the Branch Secretary for the Omagh and Fermanagh Health Branch of UNISON has invited everyone to make their views known.
“We would invite the elected representatives to attend to show us what action they will take to protect our services and yet again I warn people that this is the start. The Trust savings plan will affect every household at some point in this local area and it is time to say to our politicians to demand more.”
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