Letterkenny councillors have called for an urgent meeting with the HSE to address recent staffing issues at the respite house in Ballymacool, Letterkenny.
It comes as two families had bookings cancelled last month because there was not a safe staffing level to care for their loved ones.
The Ballymacool Respite House is currently facing a shortage of nursing and healthcare assistant staff following three resignations and one staff member taking a career break.
The HSE has apologised following the cancellations on the 20th and 21st of September and announced that, as of Wednesday 9th October, three vacant nursing positions have been accepted by candidates.
The disruption was raised at a meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District on Tuesday.
Independent Councillor Michael McBride moved an emergency motion on the matter, and called on the office of the Mayor, Cllr Gerry McMonagle, to seek a meeting with the HSE.
Cllr McBride said the HSE should have been prepared for the recent retirement of two staff members. A nurse also decided to emigrate after being unable to secure a full-time contract with the HSE, the council heard.
Cllr McBride said: “It was brought to my attention there were families with bookings. They got a call to say ‘sorry we don’t have any staff and the centre is closed’.”
Cllr McBride pointed out the vital need for respite for families who are caring for loved ones with complex disabilities.
“These families need a few days every three or four months to recharge their batteries,” he said.
Cllr McBride added that the lifting of the recruitment embargo in the HSE is “pure lip service” as the Ballymacool House situation shows that issues remain on the ground.
“It’s probably an unusual request to ask the Mayor to speak to the HSE, but this is not acceptable, we need to put as much pressure on the HSE as much as we can,” Cllr McBride said.
Cllr McMonagle agreed that engagement with the HSE was a priority.
The motion was signed by all councillors of the Letterkenny and Milford MD.
The HSE has confirmed to Donegal Daily that the three candidates for the nursing positions are currently going through the required clearances such as Garda vetting, reference checks, Occupational Health assessments before appointment.
“The vacant Health Care Assistant position awaits Human Resources approval to recruit,” a spokesperson said.
On the reduction of staff complement, they said: “Disability Services have tried to ensure service continuity at Ballymacool House through the use of contingency measures – agency staff being utilised and overtime being offered to existing staff. However, respite services at Ballymacool Respite House were cancelled on one occasion this year – Friday 20th and Saturday 21st of September. The reason for the cancellation of respite on these dates was due to the inability to provide a safe level of staffing. Disability Services were unable to secure sufficient replacement staff from agencies or via uptake of overtime.
“Two individuals from two different families were booked for respite in Ballymacool Respite House on the relevant dates of 20th and 21st September. These individuals and their families were notified of the decision to cancel respite on these dates two weeks earlier. A peer group of three people had been identified by the service for the other three places on the relevant dates but their respite places had not been confirmed prior to the cancellation decision as the service was aware that it would have difficulty achieving a safe staffing level on the dates.
“The HSE regrets very much the need to curtail services at any time and apologies to those individuals and their families who were impacted by the cancellation of respite services at Ballymacool House on the 20th and 21st September.”
Ballymacool Respite House is registered with the Health Information and Quality Authority to deliver respite for up to five people with disabilities on any given night. Respite services delivered at Ballymacool Respite House are delivered on alternate weeks to adults and children.
