SKEAGH HOUSE IS A HOME, NOT JUST A FACILITY
SKEAGH House is a home to its elderly residents and not just a facility. That's what health chiefs are being urged to bear in mind as they consider plans to close the residential home.
The plea came in a presentation to the Trust board by Lagan Valley MLAs Jeffrey Donaldson and Edwin Poots, delivered on their behalf by their personal assistant Mr. Paul Stewart.
It noted the strength of their own and wider opposition to the closure proposals and insisted too that many interested parties in the wider Dromore area had not yet been consulted about the way forward for Skeagh House.
"Already," they said, "hundreds of local people have signed a petition in opposition to the closure of this vital community facility and we expect that this community opposition will grow in the weeks to come.
"The strength of feeling is perhaps best summed up by the words of one of the most elderly of the residents in Skeagh House, who said that she would rather die first rather than see the closure of her home.
"It has to be borne in mind by the Trust that Skeagh House is a home to these elderly residents and not just a 'facility'."
In making the presentation on Mr. Donaldson's and Mr. Poots' behalf, Mr. Stewart earlier dismissed the Trust's research on the views of elderly people as being "flawed".
He told the Trust board, "We also feel that there is a need for the Trust to engage more widely within the local community to consult on the way forward.
"We feel that the consultation that has taken place to date has been quite selective and a large number of organisations in Dromore and surrounding district have not been consulted at this stage.
"In addition, whilst we acknowledge that the Trust has done some research on the views of elderly people, we believe again that these are flawed in that the research does not take adequate account of future population trends and the demographic changes within the community."
Mr. Stewart had pointed out statistics indicating that the number of pensioners in Northern Ireland would increase dramatically over the next 20 years.
In their presentation, the DUP representatives also noted that in the almost 30 years since it opened, Skeagh House had provided an excellent care facility for elderly residents in the Dromore area and beyond.
"The staff who work in Skeagh House provide a service to the highest standards of care," they said. A regular visitor to the home, Mr. Donaldson said he had always found the residents to be "in good form and well looked after".
Noting the strong cross-community opposition to the closure plan, as demonstrated at a recent public meeting in Dromore, the presentation singled out, and backed, the opinion of local GPs that the loss of Skeagh House to town and district would have a detrimental impact on the elderly within the population.
Said Mr. Stewart, "Mr. Poots and Mr. Donaldson will continue to engage with the Trust on behalf of the local community regarding their concerns about the proposal to close Skeagh House."
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Weather for Dromore
Saturday 04 February 2012
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