Thank you Mary Lou McDonald – Sinn Féin for advocating on my behalf to Stephen Donnelly TD, Minister for Health. See below:

A Aire, a chara,

I have copied the Minister of State for Disability, the Head of Disability Services Community Healthcare West and Geraldine Lavelle into this correspondence.

My experience of advocating on behalf of Geraldine over the last few months has provided me with an insight into the unnecessary yet mountainous challenges facing people with disabilities who are actively seeking to move from congregated settings to independent living.

Geraldine is one of the most determined people I have ever met, so I cannot begin to imagine how torturous this journey must be for people who do not have her life skills.

Mayo County Council have completed the work on Geraldine’s new home with the signing of her tenancy agreement now imminent. This will be her first home since her catastrophic accident ten years ago.

Geraldine has fought an enormous personal battle to create this situation for herself yet is now placed in an intolerable position by the Department and HSE senior management who due to PA budget shortfalls, bureaucratic intransigence, or both have refused to engage with me or Geraldine on the provision of an adequate number of PA hours to enable her live independently, see below and attached.

As you will note from the attached correspondence Community Healthcare West have still not explained why it continues to seek an updated Care Plan from the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Geraldine was discharged from the hospital a number of years ago. I have attached the Care Plan completed in 2020 by Cheshire Ireland with whom Geraldine has resided in a congregated setting since her discharge in 2014. This Care Plan identifies a care need of 56 hours per week. Geraldine has a C5-6 Spinal Cord Injury. It is enormously cruel for any healthcare professional to infer that an injury such as this will improve over time.

The assistance package currently provided to Geraldine Cheshire is 47 hours within a congregated setting which again is an under provision arising from inadequate budgets. It would appear self-evident that if 47 hours is what Geraldine receives in a congregated setting then this is the minimum or base point from which her need should be assessed to enable her live independently, with the ambition to meet in full her care needs as identified in the attached 2020 Care Plan which advises that she requires 56 hours per week.  Instead and without explanation Community Healthcare West intend to cut her PA hours to 42 hours per week when living independently.

Mayo County Council have completed the accommodations to Geraldine’s new home, and the signing of her tenancy agreement is imminent. The IWA are currently overseeing a recruitment campaign to secure the necessary staff to enable the move.

As Community Healthcare West has already advised the Intensive Home Care Package is not open to Geraldine as it is limited to current patients discharged from the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Therefore, the PA scheme is the only option for her which does allow for a weekly allocation above 42 hours per week.

I understand that Community Healthcare West Disability Services have not been in contact with Geraldine in recent months which again is a further cause of concern.

Ignoring the unresolved matter of inadequate PA hours is not an option, nor is the matter magically going to resolve itself. There needs to be a concerted and direct engagement by the Department of Health in terms of budget and Community Health West on PA hours to ensure Geraldine can move into her new home.

Geraldine is an intelligent and determined young woman who has created a new life for herself against immeasurable odds.

As a resolution is now urgently required, I would like to arrange a call with you as a matter of urgency so that a satisfactory solution can be found.

Is mise, le meas,

Mary Lou McDonald TD | Dublin Central

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