Demand to re-instate respite care at Thor House in Thurso
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Community representatives are continuing to press for the restoration of overnight respite care at Thurso's Thor House.
The service was suspended during the pandemic but has not been reinstated and is currently subject to a review being carried out by Highland Council.
In the meantime, families in the far north are being advised to go to the respite care centre at Orchard House in Inverness.
Renewed concern about the uncertainty surrounding Thor House's future was sounded at Thurso Community Council's latest meeting.
Member Billy Sinclair questioned when the outcome of the review will be known.
Local Highland councillor Matthew Reiss, who has been backing efforts to restore the service at the Thurso centre, said he did not know the timeframe.
He said: "We've been pushing pretty hard on this. To my mind, it's an unacceptable suggestion that people from this area should have to go to Inverness."
Agreeing, community council chair Thelma MacKenzie said: "It's shocking. Thor House was set up in the '80s to provide respite care for people from this area."
Mr Sinclair questioned who was behind the review. "It seems to me like the tail wagging the dog," he said. "The people working for the council are there to carry out what the councillors wish."
Councillor Reiss said there would not have been a review had he and his far north colleagues not 'kicked up a stink'.
Cllr Reiss said the loss of overnight respite at Thor during the pandemic was understandable due to staff having to be redeployed to Wick.
"After the pandemic, we started asking questions about Thor House and that is when the then-chief executive said: 'let's have a review.'
"They have persistently said there's not the demand for the service and we have continued to counter that."
Mr Sinclair interjected: "I think the real reason is that there's no room for respite as it (Thor House) is being used as a children's centre."
Cllr Reiss later said he and the other local Highland councillors had been blindsided by the closure of the children's home at Avonlea in Wick at the end of last year.
"It was a Caithness-wide facility which was only eight years old and cost about £1.2 million.
"The main reason that it closed was that it doesn't fit with Scottish Government guidelines about how children's homes should be designed."
A council spokesman said: “Thor House is currently not used as a respite centre and now houses young people who require a permanent home.
"The overnight respite review is under way, and the scoping exercise is near completion.
"We have done a needs analysis, and the number of young people who require overnight provision is low in the north.
"The reduction is due to the choice offered through Self Directed Support which has given families more options. We are continuing with this strategic work.”
