A new purpose-built Dementia Day Care Unit at Clarecastle remains idle as sufferers await HSE funding to operate the service, according to management at the facility.The Unit was built in response to the growing number of people in the community diagnosed with the condition and anticipated future growth. It is designed to facilitate 25 people per day with mild/moderate dementia. Built at a cost of €850,000, the HSE spent €486,000 on the project while the remaining €364,000 was sourced from a massive community fund-raising effort. It is planned to open the Unit on a phased basis. €150,000 will be required to operate the new service in year one. This will rise to €300,000 in the year two while €420,000 per annum will be required thereafter when the Unit is functioning to full capacity.
The Dementia Unit is designed to complement the existing District Day Care Centre at Clarecastle which was established in 1999. This community project has a very successful track record in providing services to older citizens in 12 parishes with a population of 50,000 and within a ten-mile radius of the centre. 250 people per week currently avail of a broad range of services which are provided by dedicated professional staff and volunteers. About 25 of these suffer from some form of dementia.
The services anticipated in the new unit will offer them more specialised care in an environment that is purpose built for their needs. Opening the new unit will also free up spaces in the existing day care centre which has a waiting list of 40. The existing services are operated by agreement between District Day Care Centre Ltd - a voluntary organisation - and the Health Services Executive. The decision to develop the Centre by providing a purpose built Dementia Unit was approved by the HSE.
"It is incredibly frustrating to see this state of the art building lying empty while there is a queue of people waiting to use it. Our day care services with their high voluntary input save the State a fortune," said Mary Morrissey, Chairperson of the District Day Care Centre in Clarecastle.
"Despite protracted negotiations, no agreement has been reached with the HSE. We keep our older citizens out of long term residential care - sometimes for years. The amount of money we need is peanuts compared with nursing home costs. Do people realise that it costs in the order of €100,000 per annum to keep a resident in a public nursing home?" she added. Day Care services provide much needed respite for home carers, public health nurses and doctors. Older people will have a vastly improved quality of life surrounded by family and friends and this community of 12 parishes will have additional facilities that are humane, caring and cost effective. "Our priority is to open the new Dementia Unit this year and we are calling on the HSE to give the people of this area what they want and need. Further protracted discussions will only give rise to suspicions of a lack of commitment on the part of the HSE," she concluded.
