Families are set to launch a legal battle against a decision to stop funding a respite centre for disabled children.
The future of Nascot Lawn in Langley Road, Watford is in jeopardy after health bosses at Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group (HVCCG) announced last month it intended to stop the £650,000 funding it provides for respite services.
Families of children who use Nascot Lawn have called for lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to take up their fight to save the centre.
Satnam Kaur, from Bushey, has relied on Nascot Lawn for 13 years due as her 14-year-old daughter Gurpreet has a range of complex needs.
Gurpreet, who needs medical supervision to manage chronic renal failure, tube feeding and medications, currently uses the centre for four nights a month for overnight respite.
Ms Kaur said: “Nascot Lawn is a godsend for Gurpreet. She really enjoys visiting the centre and has built up a great relationship with the staff, who do a brilliant job in looking after her.
“We just feel that once again our concerns have been ignored and the CCG has paid lip service to speaking to families. They won’t even say that we are entitled as local people to be consulted on this decision.
“Our family and others families who desperately need Nascot Lawn are determined to fight this all the way.”
Emma Turner’s 10-year-old daughter Sienna Scott also uses the centre two nights per month.
She said: “The last few months have been really difficult for all the families who use Nascot Lawn. We’re fraught with worry about what the implications of any closure would mean for our children.
“While it would mean massive upheaval for Sienna if the centre closed, it would not be as bad if I knew there was at least somewhere else which provided the care and support my daughter needs.”
A legal challenge against the decision was launched earlier in the year however, days before a judicial review was due to be heard in the High Court over the legality of proposal, the CCG agreed to set aside its decision to stop funding.
The High Court quashed its decision and ordered the CCG to pay the legal costs. Now health bosses have once again decided to withdraw the funding, putting the centre back at risk of closure.
Irwin Mitchell wrote to the CCG stating that the new decision was also unlawful on the basis that it had failed to lawfully consult with families.
After the CCG refused to back down, the law firm’s public law team is now set to issue fresh court proceedings.
Alex Rook, the partner at Irwin Mitchell’s London office who is representing the families, said: “The CCG have said that it is not required to consult with families, which in our view is unlawful. Our clients consider that the CCG has also failed to co-operate with the Hertfordshire County Council to establish viable options for providing respite care to children who use Nascot Lawn, despite the council’s attempts to get them to do so.”
“Even now there is absolutely no clarity regarding what care options are available. This has meant that the families who rely on the vital services Nascot Lawn provides have not been able to give an informed response to the consultation.”
Herts Valleys CCG have yet to respond.
Article originally appeared on Watford Observer
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