HEALTH Minister Michelle O’Neill has told local families affected by the Western Trust’s historical underspend on adults with learning disabilities: “I will not be found wanting in my support for people with a learning disability.”

To date the total underspend has not been revealed and local families are becoming increasingly concerned about a perceived lack of transparency from the Western Trust and the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB). The Western Trust has confirmed an underspend of £8 million “over the past couple of years” but a local campaign group estimates that the deficit was approximately five per cent per annum amounting to around £8 million in any given year, possibly dating back back to 1996.

During an Assembly motion on Tuesday, the Health Minister said: “The Western Trust is now working urgently, with the support of the HSCB to robustly and accurately quantify the spending gap that has occurred.”
The motion was brought to the Assembly by West Tyrone Ulster Unionist MLA, Ross Hussey, who made an impassioned plea for MLAs to take action, saying: “Now is the time for us to uncover the truth.”

Mr. Hussey stated: “This is a 20-year scandal … Every single piece of paper that is available must be made available. Every single pound that was taken from the service must be given back. Whenever parents in their eighties cannot get respite care because we did not give the services sufficient money, that is wrong. If this Trust did that, and the Trust’s management board allowed it to happen, then there are quite a few heads that have to be knocked together.”

He called on the RQIA – the body which first uncovered the deficit – “to explain its actions in how it tried to address this situation.” He called on the HSCB “to publish its review of expenditure on learning disability services across all trust areas as a matter of urgency.” He called on the Western Trust “to identify who took the decision to move the funding for learning disabilities to a different programme of care.” Finally, he called for “a robust and independent inquiry into how this could, and did, happen.”
The result of the historical deficit, according to Mr. Hussey, is: “Families are continuing to care when they are at breaking point, putting lives and relationships in danger.”

In response, UUP MLA Rosemary Barton said: “The Western Trust must come clean and explain fully how this gross underspend happened. It must be transparent and open in its explanation, including about the number of years for which the deficit has existed.”

Sinn Fein MLA Sean Lynch said: “The issue has been very badly handled by the Western Trust.  The families need clarity. They should not have to fight tooth and nail.”

SDLP MLA Richie McPhillips said: “The Trust has also stated that it will work with the families affected and will bring them on board, but I had a visit to my office in Lisnaskea from one of the parents, and she advised me last week that no contact has been made to date to take them on board. Is this yet another empty promise?”

Sinn Fein MLA Michelle Gildernew said: “At the meeting on May 20, the Trust made it very clear to us that it would not be seeking additional resources from the Minister and that the situation would have to be managed from the budget allocation.”

The issue of resources available to the Western Trust is of major concern to the Western Learning Disability Action Group (WLDAG) who wonder: “How can the Western Trust recover the shortfall in funding for adult learning disability when it is having to seek resources from the HSCB to break even for the last two years?” The HSCB gave £3.8 million to allow the Trust to break even in 2015-16 and a further £1 million of non-recurring funding to help address increasing costs relating to medical staffing and Looked After Children. 

The WLDAG held a second meeting in Enniskillen on Tuesday night to try to formulate an action plan.

Local carers advocate Caroline Kelly said that after four months, local families are no further on in finding out the total deficit or hearing from the Trust, which had initially promised the WLDAG that it will have them “at the top table” and will “work in partnership with families, carers and advocate groups to develop plans to address the funding gaps and to ensure they are involved in service planning and delivery going forward.”