Council cuts care to save cash

11:05am Wednesday 18th July 2007

A WOODFORD Green man dependant on help for the most basic of functions is to have his care package cut in half by Redbridge Council.

Matthew Brook of Roding Lane North is deaf, has only 25 per cent site in one eye and the UK's oldest survivor of keratitis ichthyosis, a congenital condition that attacks the skin leaving it thickened and flaky and needing daily checks for cancers.

He is looked after around the clock by his sister and his 72-year-old mother with the support of a care package drawn up by the council and Redbridge Primary Care Trust but the council has confirmed that this is to be cut to five-and-a-half hours a day.

His sister, Helen Coughlan, said: "I will not be able to have a break or a holiday or anything else because I'm not going to get someone in for three-quarters of an hour here and three-quarters of an hour there. No-one else is going to do it."

Mr Brook's doctor, Sanjeeda Ahmed, said: "He has a very severe and rare medical condition. He has received excellent care from his family and the fact that he is the oldest surviving person with this condition validates this."

In September, last year, the revised care plan was drawn up by the council and the PCT but it was put on hold pending an independent medical assessment, and is now due to come into force on August 1.

A spokeswoman for Redbridge Council said: "He has complex needs but we think we can safely reduce his care package to this level. Nothing is set in stone and if he suddenly deteriorates we could increase it again.

"We need to remind people that it is public money that's being used to support him and we need to be sure that that money is being spent appropriately."

Tonight, in what promises to be a fiery meeting, the council is debating plans to reduce the number of people eligible for care packages in a bid to save £1.7 million a year.

Mrs Coughlan said: "If they are doing this to Malcolm who is in such a condition, what is it going to mean for everyone else in the borough?"