Riada House respite service suspended

Independent TD for Laois-Offaly Carol Nolan has said that she was taken aback to learn that the HSE has completely suspended respite services in Riada House, Tullamore for the foreseeable future.

Deputy Nolan was speaking after the HSE’s Chief Officer for the Midlands Louth Meath Community Health Organisation confirmed to her that the respite beds will instead be used for Covid-19 isolation purposes should an outbreak occur in line with public health measures:

“Quite frankly this is an astonishing admission from the HSE. We have families in Tullamore and surrounding areas who have been attempting for some time to have loved ones urgently admitted to Riada House for much needed respite.

"Now they are being told that the beds have been deliberately removed from access. It is not as if there any many other respite options or an excess of respite facilities available.

"The HSE must find some way of accommodating a response to Covid which does not impose significant care burdens on families who need respite in the here and now.

"I am told that a Public Health Nurse continues to assess each individual requirement for respite on an on-going basis.

"But this will be of very limited comfort to those families who, apparently, must now simply accept the fact that their loved ones will be placed in units far removed from where they actually live.

This decision has to be reconsidered immediately. The HSE must bring back Riada House for respite use as soon as possible,” concluded Deputy Nolan.