current

Cregg House and HSE Crisis Meeting Outcome

Following the crisis meeting in Mullingar on Friday, which was arranged prior to last week's ministerial meeting between Sligo/Nth Leitrim Oireachtas members and junior minister Kathleen Lynch, a joint statement has been issued on behalf of Cregg House and the Health Service Executive in the past few minutes.

The statement from the Daughters of Wisdom and HSE West reads;

As part of the ongoing discussions in relation to the 2012 Service Agreement for Wisdom Services, representatives of the Daughters of Wisdom and the HSE met on Friday 27 April 2012.

Whilst the meeting was constructive, significant challenges remain and both parties agreed to an intensive engagement over the next four weeks.  In this review the HSE and Wisdom Services will work together to ensure that the service users will continue to receive the care and support they require. The following were the principal points noted at the meeting.

Sr. Jean Quinn, Provincial, Daughters of Wisdom, GBI, stated again the position of the Daughters of Wisdom regarding funding – that they are not in a position to part- fund the service they provide on behalf of the State. Damien McCallion, HSE Area Manager, Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan stated that he understood and noted the position of the Daughters of Wisdom in relation to funding.

The meeting agreed to initiate a process to find sustainable solutions for Intellectual Disability Services in Sligo and Leitrim acceptable to the HSE and Wisdom Services.

The first stage of the process will be addressed urgently and will be concluded by the end of May.

The Daughters of Wisdom and the HSE will review the outcome of the first stage of the process at the end of May with a view to agreeing a programme to put arrangements in place that will set out clearly the respective future roles of the HSE and Wisdom Services.

The HSE and the Daughters of Wisdom recognise that this period of negotiation is unsettling for people who use the services and their families, but it is important to stress that they will continue to receive the services that they require. The statement concludes.

SligoToday.ie understands that no further statements to the media will be made for at least one month.

In the meantime it is believed that a specialist focus group will convene to tackle the issue which is intended by all parties to have resolved within the agreed timeframe.