FAMILIES OF more than 20 older people with Alzheimer's disease and other high-dependency conditions face having to care for their relatives at home after health authorities announced that they are closing respite beds at a Dublin hospital.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) says it will close 12 respite beds for older people at Cherry Orchard Hospital from June this year to keep spending levels within budget.
The beds closures will affect about 24 families as they are "roll-over" respite beds that are occupied by a number of different patients over the course of a typical week.
The family of a 93-year-old woman with dementia who is being cared for at the hospital yesterday was angry at the move.
"We're told there is a two-year waiting list for a public nursing home bed for an older person with a very high level of need. In the meantime, we were told this respite was all we could get. Now they are taking that away as well," said one relative, who declined to be named.
He said the respite beds provided a valuable service to dozens of families caring for older relatives, many of whom require around-the-clock care.
"I'm outraged that this service is being cut. When you combine this with the delays in introducing the 'fair deal' scheme [on financing nursing home care], it strikes me that families and their dependant relatives are simply being abandoned in favour of balancing budgets."
The HSE said the decision to temporarily close 12 beds was an essential budgetary measure and would be regularly reviewed.