Cautious welcome to increase in respite services at Seaview House

There’s been cautious welcome for an announcement that respite service days at Sea View House in Mountcharles are to be increased next year.
Currently the service only operates on a three day per week basis.
The changes will come when the facility is taken over by new operator RehabCare from February 2019.
According to the HSE respite service days at the centre are set to increase from three to five days a week once the RehabCare Group takes over operations at Sea View House next February.
Respite care at the Mountcharles based facility has long been plagued by service disruptions, with resourcing and staffing shortages resulting in the closure of the centre for six weeks on separate occasions between January and August last.
Sinn Fein’s Finance Spokesperson Deputy Pearse Doherty has given a cautious welcome to the announcement, saying that it remains to be seen whether the commitment will be honoured by the new provider and that any improvement to the service provision at the centre is very much welcome.