Families unite against night-time plan at Cornerstone-run homes
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OUTRAGED relatives have vowed to take collective action against a pilot scheme which they fear could place vulnerable Elgin residents in harm's way at night times.
Currently the 11 residents of three Cornerstone-run homes rely on the presence of night-time "sleeping" staff. However, relatives and guardians of the learning-disabled residents were informed by Health and Social Care Moray (HSCM) on November 18 of the 12-week pilot scheme to place just one office-based responder on call for all three houses between the hours of 10.30pm and 7am. In the pilot planned to start in January, "telecare sensors" will be linked to the 24-hour alarm call centre, which would alert the responder.
The Moray Integrated Joint Board approved the pilot in August after HSCM said the availability of care staff was an issue in Moray and the existing model of sleepover support was unsustainable.
Around 25 people gathered at Elgin's Laichmoray Hotel on Monday, December 9, to voice their fears and discuss how best to take a stand against what one dad called an "experiment", which they say is all about money and targets society's most vulnerable.
Anne Speake, secretary of the Elgin Enable branch, organised the meeting after being "inundated" with calls. She led the meeting alongside "worried sick" relatives Libby Mitchell and Jenny Angus, from Aberdeen, and Liz McKay, from Inverness.
Moray Conservative councillors Tim Eagle (Buckie) and Claire Feaver (Forres) attended.
The relatives now plan to draft a joint letter to HSCM, Cornerstone and Moray Council, backed by Enable, and won an assurance from Mr Eagle to seek a meeting with social care bosses.
Mrs Speake said: "People who are making these decisions do not know what it's like to have a son or a daughter with disabilities. If we don't shout for these people, who will?
"It's an accident waiting to happen. And when that accident happens it's too late."
Miss Mitchell said: "The saddest thing for me is Grampian Health Board, Cornerstone and Moray Council have worked together. Absolutely no one was consulted about this."
She added: "24-hour care to me is not pressure pads and fire sprinklers.
"It's wrong. It's neglect."
The relatives were not reassured by Cornerstone's assertion that it already successfully operated an overnight responder service in other parts of Scotland.
A report in August by Charles McKerron, interim integrated services manager at HSCM, said the cost of night-time care in Moray for people who have a learning disability is £18,561 per week – £965,172 a year.
HSCM said it was engaging with families and responding to concerns – but relatives said they were still awaiting answers to a list of questions.
Miss Mitchell said "sleeping" staff did a lot more than sleep, and added: "This is all about saving money. It's making them unsafe. We're worried sick about it.
"I listen to the news and I think prisoners are treated better."
Miss Mitchell's son, Aberdeen solicitor Eamonn Mitchell, was concerned about security at nights. He said: "What about people coming in? They are being opened up to risks of robbery, sexual abuse, all manner of things.
"They're reducing our loved ones to an entry on a balance sheet. People don't understand the callousness of what's going on here. The man in the street doesn't really care how much these people cost. It's our responsibility as taxpayers and more able people to take care of them."
Maureen and John Simon, from Elgin, have a 32-year-old daughter who will be affected by the pilot. Mrs Simon said her focus was on making sure the telecare features were enough to keep their daughter safe as "the things they're putting into place are not good enough".
And Mrs McKay posed the question of what would happen if her epileptic relative took a turn during the night. She said: "Nobody is going to hear her, nobody is going to find her. What are they going to find in the morning when they go in?"
There has been no indication of the cost of the telecare measures.
Mr Eagle said he had previously been under the impression that relatives had been fully consulted. He pledged to work with Enable and the relatives to organise another meeting with Mr McKerron and Pam Gowans, NHS Grampian's executive lead for Dr Gray's Hospital.
He added: "I think we need more answers."
