Respite care provision 'a disgrace': Rogart father hits back at council over 'lack of services' in far north
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The father of an autistic child living in Sutherland has slammed Highland Council’s provision of respite care and other services in the far north as a “disgrace”.
Leslie Sharp, of Rogart, has been unable to access overnight respite care for his son since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic led to the closure in March 2020 of the local authority run Thor House in Thurso.
Previously the family would have been given two to three nights respite care at the four-bed Thor House around four times a year. The facility is now understood to have been re-purposed, although the authority says it will reopen for respite care.
Mr Sharp is also critical of the lack of other facilities for children with physical and learning disabilities in the far north.
His son used to attend SOAR disability youth club in Tain pre-Covid but it has since closed down.
“The lack of services for learning disabled children in Sutherland is astonishing,” he said. “The county seems to get continually discarded as irrelevant to Highland Council’s priorities. It is as if we do not exist.
“Everyone in Sutherland and Caithness is cut off from accessing respite provision and the Highland Council’s failure to supply this for the north is a disgrace.”
Mr Sharp, who works in the marine industry, has emailed every member of Highland Council highlighting his concerns as well as the area’s political leaders.
In addition he has submitted a number of Freedom of Information requests to Highland Council in a bid to ascertain exactly what provision is available.
He has been told that the next nearest respite care facilities are the eight-bed Orchard House in Inverness and a facility in Elgin. Orchard House has just begun to offer a limited respite service again.
East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillor Jim McGillivray said he was “deeply disappointed” that Highland Council had not yet come up with any solutions to the issues raised by Mr Sharp.
“I had an extended sequence of correspondence with council officers from Children’s Services in early and mid-May and understood at that point that work would be undertaken to urgently address the needs of rural families requiring respite care, if not at Thor House then at some accessible alternative facility,” said Cllr McGillivray.
“There is still Covid, and the holiday season has intervened, but it vexes me greatly that such a serious issue still appears to be unresolved. In a civilised society, respite care should not be a battle but should be readily available to those who need it on request.”
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone said Mr Sharp was not the only parent to have brought the lack of respite care to his attention.
“My constituents have told me time and time again that respite care at Thor House is a critical resource for them and their families - but at present that support is simply not there,” he said.
“Disabled children in Caithness and Sutherland are being disadvantaged each day that the service remains shut. It is indefensible.
“I urge Highland Council and NHS Highland to make Thor House a top priority and give a definitive date for restarting respite care, so that families like Mr Sharp’s can have some peace of mind."
Highland Council said: "Thor House currently provides residential care for children and young people with disabilities, however, the capacity for short respite breaks has been restricted. A review of provision is under way. While this review is undertaken, the alternative for parents in Sutherland is Orchard House in Inverness.”
“Parents have the opportunity to access a needs-led assessment for Self-directed Support (SDS) and through this they can employ someone to care for their child in their own home or in the carer’s home to provide them with respite.
"In addition, through an SDS support plan, some children in Sutherland have accessed ‘Reach4Reality’ – an organisation which will take children away for weekend breaks.”
