Galliagh staff are 'left in limbo'
Julie Kenwell • Published 26 Jan 2012 13:00
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STAFF at the ill-fated Galliagh House in Enniskillen are being "left in limbo" as the residential care home prepares to close this year, according to trade union representative, Michael Mulholland.
Praxis Care announced last year that the adult special needs facility in the former Munster House building near Portora Royal School, would have to close due to "falling occupancy" and "insufficient demand".
Opened in 1994, the 22-bed facility had been running at a loss for some time with a drop in the number of referrals to Galliagh over the years. Currently there are nine service-users taking up occupancy in the facility.
And when the decision was initially announced last September, Praxis estimated that Galliagh would be likely to close in February 2012, adding that this timescale would be kept under review.
The organisation said that since Galliagh House was relatively small scale, with high staffing ratios, it required higher running costs compared with large homes that cater for lower level needs.
Praxis also assured there would be "no sudden or short notice closure".
And whilst the process of moving service-users elsewhere is at an advanced stage according to Praxis Care, GMB representative, Mr Mullholland says staff are concerned that no statutory notice has been issued to date for them.
Mr Mullholland told The Impartial Reporter he had been in contact with Praxis Care last week in relation to staff members' concerns.
"To date Praxis have gone through what can only be called an 'informal process' in relation to redundancy," he said, "Staff have not been issued with statutory notice so far. The organisation has failed thus far to action a formal process and as a result there are rumours going around amongst staff that their redundancy package is at risk.
"They have agreed a redundancy payment structure and we have agreed the amounts that individuals will be paid in relation to their age and the length of service they have provided," he added, "They have identified there may be vacancies in other areas of the organisation, but some of these are not in Fermanagh, and Praxis have not entered into any statutory redundancy process, so in essence, anything that they have done to date accounts for nothing."
Urging Praxis to clarify what the future holds for staff at Galliagh House, Mr Mullholland said they were being "left in limbo" at present.
"I want the organisation to clarify exactly what process they intend to follow," he said, "Since no statutory notice has been issued so far, staff don't know where they stand."
Director of Care with Praxis, Andy Mayhew said a meeting with Galliagh House staff was to take place this week.
"We will be bringing them up to speed with the current situation," he told this newspaper, "No staff have been given formal notice of redundancy at this point because we are not clear on the exact time scale as yet. When we would be clearer on when the closure will take place we will give notice of redundancy to those it applies to.
"We are working through the redeployment of staff, in conjunction with the trade union, in terms of who is to be given first refusal," he said, "And we are going to clarify that on Monday evening with staff."
Mr Mayhew said an official date of closure for Galliagh was still under review.
"When we initially announced the plans to close Galliagh we said it needed to be closed by the end of August 2012 because that's when the lease agreement comes to an end. And what we also said at the time was that the time scale would be dictated really by the time it took to make appropriate arrangements for the residents.
"That process is well under way at this stage," he said, "Some residents have moved already, some residents have very definite plans to move and some are still exploring the options.
"So until that process is complete we wouldn't be able to say exactly when it would close."
The Director of Care said Praxis would maintain a service for residents until they had all moved.
"It will be a 'synchronised process' between the residents moving and finalising arrangements for staff," he explained, "The two will go hand in hand.
"Staff members' rights to redundancy payments are not affected by this. They are entitled to have those commitments honoured and that will be the case," he assured.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 26 Jan 12
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