By Conor Sharkey
STRABANE District Council's Sinn Fein bloc has thrown down a direct challenge to the Western Trust on several aspects of its proposal to shut Greenfield home.
The Trust has revealed that four key factors will be considered when making a final decision on Greenfield. These include Strategic Policy Direction; Occupancy Trends; Condition Appraisal and Underlying Investment in Community Care Provision.
In a detailed submission handed to the Trust earlier this week, Sinn Fein Councillors, including MLA Claire McGill who has been largely spearheading the 'Save Greenfield' campaign, described the consultation document on which the entire review of older person care is based as "unacceptable".
"While the consultation document is explicit in its proposal to close Greenfield, what is less certain is the Trust's ability to deliver the promised range of additional community based services for clients who would be forced to leave Greenfield.
"The Trust alludes to new funding being released through the Comprehensive Spending Review Programme to be re-invested in key priority areas across health and social care services. However, it is clear that there would be acute competition for whatever amount of new funding is secured from this programme from across all health and social service sectors and therefore there is no guarantee that the necessary finance would be ring-fenced to deliver the additional services envisaged. As such the Trust's commitment in this regard is more aspiration than reality," Councillor's said.
Rubbishing both the Occupancy Levels and Conditions Appraisal, nationalist councillors questioned why no economic appraisal has been carried out on the possibility of providing an alternative facility in Strabane, with the capital required being clawed back through the sale of the current Greenfield facility.
Challenging a Trust claim that Strabane has ample Day Care facilities to usurp the closure of the home, Sinn Fein said it was both "deeply flawed" and "wrong".
A spokesperson said: "Domiciliary Care: while it may have been historically the case, a major reduction has been made in the provision of domiciliary care within the Strabane District Council area in 2008 as part of the three percent efficiency savings. Therefore the inference being made in this regard is completely misleading.
"Day Care Provision: The 'Review of Day Care Provision for Older People Consultation Report' which is running parallel with this consultation says that Strabane does have a high level of Day Care provision with 40 daily (200 per week) but also highlights that fact that the Strabane Centre has the highest level of utilisation of all locations within the West Tyrone Constituency at 96 per cent.
"Given that the Strabane location is already operating at almost full capacity and given it is clear that there is little or no additional capacity at the Strabane location it is misleading to suggest, as it does in this section of the report that there is sufficient provision within Day Care to accommodate Greenfield residents moved out of residential care.
"The 'Review of Day Care Provision for Older People Consultation Report' also proposes to close the ten place Dementia Day Care Unit at Greenfield, with the already full capacity Strabane Day Care Centre being expected to accommodate the dementia day care patients.
"How can the Review of Statutory Residential Care Provision for Older People and the Review of Day Care Provision for Older People Consultation proposals be considered in isolation from one another given the combined impact they have on the ability of community care provision to cope if these proposals were implemented?
"For example, no mention is made in either document about the fact that meals for clients attending Strabane Day Care Centre are prepared at Greenfield and if this proposal is implemented what alternative arrangements would be put in place. This is just one of many issues of 'impact' which have not been taken into consideration and which adds to our view that the proposal in relation to Greenfield is deeply flawed.
"The inference in this section that there is extra capacity in terms of Day Care/Domiciliary Care provision in Strabane is wrong.
" It is clear that a false argument is being used to substantiate the case for the proposal to close Greenfield and to further claim that enhanced Day Care/Domiciliary services would form a major part of a holistic package of alternative services that would be available to enable Greenfield residents to be re-settled in the home/community setting.
"We feel strongly that this proposal to close Greenfield must be withdrawn. We want the Trust to bring forward an alternative proposal, which would see the Greenfield remaining operational until such times as alternative residential provision can be made within Strabane," Councillors added.
