Relatives of people with a learning disability are being invited to discuss pressing care provision issues and the future direction of the service at an open workshop at Elgin Town Hall, on Tuesday, March 3.
Night-time care plans for a number of vulnerable Elgin people with learning disabilities will be one of the “hot topics” under discussion next week. The workshop plan came out of a Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) meeting with relatives on February 12 amid widespread anxiety over night-time responder plans for three Cornerstone-run properties in Elgin. A number of highly-charged public meetings have been held this winter over the proposed 12-week trial to gradually withdraw overnight staff and replace them with “tried and tested” telecare equipment and one office-based overnight responder between the shared houses.
Concerned relatives of the vulnerable residents put across their unanimous opposition to the pilot during a public meeting in January arranged by Anne Speake, of the Elgin branch of Enable. Moray Conservative Councillor Tim Eagle (Buckie), a member of the MIJB, said then there was consensus among parents that the “trial needed to be stopped” – but despite their upset there was a strong commitment to be involved in talks about wider transformation plans to cope with demands on healthcare services.Health and Social Care Moray (HSCM) says it wants to “explore change and ideas” with relatives.
It says next month’s Learning Disability Matters event will provide an update on the progress of Moray’s health and social care programme aimed at supporting people to enjoy a good life with choice about what that means for them.An HSCM spokesperson said: “The outcomes-focused progression model is a person-centred developmental approach that uses an individual’s hopes and choices as the starting point to co-develop care and support plans that enable each person to reach their potential.
