“My hairdressing is my bit of respite,” Lynne Keith tells me.
“But that will have to go if the services go.”
The Peterhead mum-of-two is speaking out after enduring months of anxiety as her son’s future hangs in the balance.
Jay has autism, learning disabilities and epilepsy. For years he has attended the Connecting The Broch service at Robertson Road Resource Centre in Fraserburgh.
Activities include arts and crafts, cycling, and swimming at Fraserburgh Leisure Centre amongst others.
It’s become his home away from home.
The 24-year-old has his own community there – and spending time out and about means his parents have a rest from their own round-the-clock care.
But Connecting The Broch and many other services across Aberdeenshire are poised to close – and families like Jay’s don’t know where to turn.
“There are hundreds of families who are going to suffer from these decisions,” Lynne warned as the decision looms.
“Our kids need socialisation, they need a routine, they need structure.”
The Press and Journal spoke with Lynne about the looming Aberdeenshire care cuts and how it could affect her family, including:
- Why she faces giving up the job she has had since she was a teenager
- Her fears for her son as the group where he “has his own fan club” could be torn away
- And her struggles to explain what is happening to Jay
‘I will have to give up my job if care services are cut’
At her home in Boddam, just outside of the Blue Toon, the 53-year-old opens up about the months of stress her family has been thrown into since these cuts were proposed in a desperate bid to balance the books.
Lynne has been a hairdresser for almost four decades, juggling her time between working at Oasis Hair Salon and raising her children.
But with Jay’s care on the chopping block, she could be forced to give up her passion to look after for her son full-time.
“If I had to give it up, it wouldn’t hurt me from a financial aspect but I feel like I would miss the social part of it, that’s my respite,” Lynne explains.
“It helps me to get away from home life, and for me to listen to other people’s problems takes my mind off of my own to be honest with you.
“It’s the social side of the job that I enjoy the most.”
Lynne’s husband Sean works offshore – leaving it already difficult for her to juggle a home life and her part-time role.
When did Lynne find out her son’s services could be slashed?
At the end of last year, Lynne found out that her son’s care service in Fraserburgh was facing the axe.
“Jay only goes there three days a week anyway, though he is entitled to five. I thought ‘how could they cut it down?”
Lynne and many other parents like her were invited to a meeting at the end of March – where they were told that services wouldn’t be stopped right away, but phased out.
The rigmarole that followed just made things worse.
Less than a week later, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Lynne said: “I got a phone call five days later to say that Jay didn’t meet the criteria for the services.
“Four times I asked on the phone what the criteria was – and she wouldn’t tell me.
“All they said was that they should have rang me last week to tell me not to put him back.”
‘I though care cuts were an April Fools joke’
Lynne was left in a state of disbelief.
She tells me: “That was on the first of April. I actually thought it was an April fools. I seriously thought she was joking.
“I was absolutely raging, and I didn’t know where to turn next.”
Lynne then sent a “brutal” email to the council chiefs behind the cuts.
And she was then told Jay could resume his care in the Broch until a better option was sorted out.
And what could those “better options” be?
Despite being willing to travel, she was given a list of activities for Jay in the Garthdee area of Aberdeen, Boyndie outside Banff or in Inverurie.
The shortest distance for any of these is an almost two-hour round trip.
Why are Aberdeenshire care services being axed?
Aberdeenshire health bosses are undertaking a major overhaul of services across the region as they aim to save £20 million in the next financial year.
Care homes, Arch responders, community hospitals, and ADHD and autism assessment services are also at risk.
The drastic savings plan has been put together by the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership (AHSCP), the joint board funded by the local authority and NHS Grampian.
Spaces at day centres like the one Jay goes to could be slashed – leaving scores of parents with no options when it comes to care for their children.
A total of eight different services across Aberdeenshire have been earmarked for closure – including Jay’s.
A final decision is expected to be made next week.
Where does this leave Jay?
The family were then presented with one option in Peterhead for Jay at the fruit mart, a market staffed by people with additional support needs at Buchanhaven.
But mum Lynne felt the staff there wouldn’t have enough time to train Jay in how to work behind the counter – given his complex conditions.
Aberdeenshire care cuts are ‘mentally draining’
Officials previously told parents at a meeting in Fraserburgh earlier this month that “voluntary places” will be on offer to those affected by the cuts.
This would come in the form of placements similar to the Fruit Market.
But for Lynne, this shows the lack of understanding from those in charge of decisions.
She tells me: “They need support. If they could volunteer, do you not think we would already have them in voluntary roles?
“And this is the hard bit because what are we supposed to do with them?
“It’s a domino effect. If we’ve got Jay at home 24/7, you see him at his best but when you go out, he’s repeating himself all the time and that’s mentally draining for us.
“Jay doesn’t want to stay in, he wants out all the time, but I’ve got a house to keep, I’ve got a daughter, so it’s not easy. It’s hard going.”
‘Jay will lose out on his bit of independence’
For Lynne, the slashing of Jay’s care is about much more than just having a place to go. It would turn his life upside down.
The hairdresser explains: “He goes swimming on Thursdays and that’s his favourite, he would really miss it to be honest with you.”
She even jokes that he’s so popular at the pool that he has his own fan club.
“It’s not just about the exercise, it’s the social side of it as well. He speaks to everyone,” Lynne continued.
“He orders and pays for his own lunch whilst he’s there. It gives him that bit of independence.”
‘How do I tell my son that it’s all being cut?’
For Lynne, the hardest thing for her family and Jay is how she will explain the worrying situation to her son.
What do you think of the healthcare cuts? Let us know in our comments section below
She sighs: “Jay wants to know what’s happening as well, he’s asking ‘why am I not going any more’…
“I don’t have answers, and he gets upset, we have to just try to calm the situation.
“It’s just more worrying than anything else, we’re being left in the dark.”
What do Aberdeenshire Council say?
Jeff Shaw, the health and social care manager for the area, said that with the council having to fill a £17 million blackhole, they will have to “do things differently, modernise and transform how we deliver our services, and we will need to do it quickly.”
He added: “I understand and can empathise with the concerns of families; however, I can reassure them that people with an assessed need will continue to receive support.
“Those with less profound needs may no longer meet the criteria to attend our day services and will be supported and signposted to access wider community-based supports which are appropriate for their needs.”
Councillors will meet on Wednesday, May 28, to discuss the issue.
Read more:
- Bosses accused of ignoring Aberdeenshire healthcare ‘ticking timebomb’ amid warnings MORE public cash might be needed
- ‘This is life or death for our disabled children’: Parents on impact of proposed cuts to Aberdeenshire day care centres
- Ticking timebomb: Trade union warns proposed Aberdeenshire health cuts will create care home crisis
Conversation