The family of a severely disabled woman who was shut out of a daycare service last week has been successful in their campaign against the HSE’s decision to revoke her place at Dawn House.
The dispute against the health authority began over 14 months ago, but came to a head last Monday, November 1st, when Leah De Hora (44) was brought to the centre by her parents and was refused entry.
After a meeting was held two days later on Wednesday, November 3rd, the HSE broke the news to the family, who are from Ferrybank just outside Wexford town, that they were willing to compromise on the original proposal that they had made.
Leah’s mother Kathleen De Hora confirmed to this newspaper that after a long battle, finally a solution had been reached.
“The relief is absolutely unbelievable. I feel like I have won the lotto,” said Mrs De Hora.
Mrs De Hora added: “While we got a resolution in the end, I hope that the HSE have learned from this. I don’t want anyone else to suffer what we have. I have worried constantly about this. It has chipped away at me for over a year and two months. Sometimes I could let go for a couple of hours, but then it would come back into my mind and I would just feel like breaking down from the stress of it all.”
Leah can now return to Dawn House, Belvedere Road, until Christmas.
In the new year when HIQA’s decision to make the facility a fully residential unit comes into force, Leah will have to attend Millbrook Day Centre in Enniscorthy for a period of nine months before a permanent residential place will be made available to her locally in September.
Leah has always slept at her family home but attended the day care service five days a week, which offered some respite to her parents.
However, the couple had expressed their deep-seated concern for their daughter’s well-being as they grow older.
This decision to offer her a residential place at a local unit they say gives them “peace of mind” that she will be cared for into the future.
They noted that they still have concerns about removing Leah from Dawn House in less than three months time, but they recognise that the compromise is necessary to facilitate the long-term objective of securing a residential place.
“I will put Leah into my own bus and take her to Millbrook myself at 11a.m. each morning and then she will be brought back to Wexford by the staff and have her dinner at Rivendell in Ferrycarrig, then I will go over to collect her,” said Mrs De Hora.
From September 2016 a fully residential place will be available for Leah at a Wexford town care home.