Sir, – Paul Cullen's article on the unfolding events at Camphill Communities centre at Ballytobin, Co Kilkenny, was a welcome piece of journalism (News, October 23rd).
Your headline describes it as a 40-year social “experiment” but it was much more than this. It was a living, thriving and resilient community.
Families, friends, volunteers and young adults with intellectual disabilities lived together in what was regarded by many people in this country and abroad as an exemplary model of care.
Largely self-sufficient in food and energy production and providing meaningful employment in the form of a bakery, weavery, school and farm, Ballytobin offered a rich and diverse social and cultural experience.
It represented a way of living that many of us in the local community came to admire, and at times envy, and embodied how we humans can live together with mutual respect, understanding, compassion and kindness.
In layman’s terms Ballytobin was simply a friendly and inclusive neighbourhood. A lovely place to have a home.
Now, after the arrival of the HSE and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), all that has changed. When visiting Ballytobin today one is met not by the sight of children playing in the orchard but by a security guard and a sign-in sheet. Families have been replaced by “employees”. Homes are now called “designated areas” and the people in care are referred to as “service users”.
The HSE maintains that its policies are “people-centred” but from our perspective this language and its actions to date are backward and soulless. There needs to be reform and a more sensitive approach – an assertion that HIQA itself has accepted.
The Ballytobin “experiment” has not yet ended and many of the qualities that made it such a unique and special place can still be saved.
A concrete proposal and business case for a new model of care in which community initiatives can operate alongside a new service provider enjoys the support of Kilkenny’s business, arts and political community and was presented to Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath during his visit in September.
If his department does not engage with efforts to solve the current stalemate and resorts instead to decongregating the site, it will be remembered in time as an unnecessary act of social and cultural vandalism. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN DILLON,
Callan, Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – Prof Eileen Munro of London University, who is now a main consultant for Tusla – the Child and Family Agency, describes the unintentional effects of “compliance-based” inspectorates in her internationally cited report for the UK parliament.
The “unintentional” effects are low staff morale among front-line staff, high turnover and absenteeism, and a lowering of the average experience level of staff. Her reports recommend that inspectorates should interact more with the stakeholders and focus less on paperwork; prescriptive paperwork should be radically reduced; and greater reliance placed on the judgement of front-line professionals
One disturbing area of the HIQA process regarding Camphill was the 28-day notice of closure.
This creates a climate of fear and uncertainty among staff, families, and inevitably residents.
This is a threat of life-changing consequences for the residents and is made without any reference to them or their circles of support. Such action directly contravenes the avowed ideal of “Nothing about me without me”. This autocratic attitude is transmitted to the care provider, who responds in a like manner.
Who inspects the inspectors? – Yours, etc,
TONY WHITTLE,
Social Worker,
Kilkenny.