Parents with children at a Belfast mental health and learning disability unit were told to urgently collect their kids as they were being discharged due to a "staffing crisis" on Friday.
Young people who had been admitted to the Iveagh Centre in the Royal Victoria Hospital were told that they would have to leave the facility on Friday, September 16, due to issues with staff, causing a lot of upset for them and their families.
Mum Jeanna Kelly told Belfast Live she was on her way to Dublin to see Garth Brooks, in what was her first night out in months, when she was contacted by the Belfast Trust and told that she would have to urgently collect her daughter Shannon.
Read more: Belfast mum says daughter 'failed by social services' as referrals never take place
When she eventually arrived to get her, Jeanna says that she was given 15 minutes to "throw her things into bags and leave", and was given no explanation as to why her daughter was being discharged at such short notice.
The Iveagh Centre deals with young people with complex needs and learning disabilities and sudden changes to their routines can cause a lot of upheaval for them.
Jeanna said that within less than a day her daughter was in need of being readmitted to the unit again.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Jeanna Kelly said: "I had been told that it would take 12 weeks to develop a care plan so that we could bring Shannon home safely from the Iveagh Centre and was shocked when I received a phone call on Friday evening telling me that she was being discharged and I needed to collect her urgently.
"I had made the trust aware that I was going with my sister to Dublin that evening, as I visit Shannon every day, and could not believe it when I received that phone call.
"When we finally made it to the centre to collect her, we had 15 minutes to gather her things and leave, it was a disgrace, and given the complex needs that Shannon has, it sent her into a complete meltdown.
"I honestly cannot believe what she has had to go through over the weekend and it is appalling that families had to be put in this position."
North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín has written to the health minister, Belfast Trust and Chief Social Worker seeking an urgent solution to the "crisis at the Iveagh Centre".
She said closure of the centre had left high risk young people with absolutely no certainty.
Ms Ní Chuilín said: “Closing Iveagh House and leaving high-risk young people and their families with no certainty on when it would reopen is totally unacceptable.
“One of the vulnerable young people discharged from the centre on Friday night was immediately returned to care on Saturday night.
“This has clearly placed an already high-risk young person at even more risk.
“I have written to the health minister, the Belfast Trust and the Chief Social Worker to urge them all to act urgently to find a solution to the ongoing crisis at Iveagh House and ensure the immediate resumption of services.”
A Belfast Health and Social Care Trust spokesperson said: "Belfast Trust accepts that the current staffing arrangements at the Iveagh Centre are challenging. Staffing levels are kept under ongoing review in order to maintain the highest levels of care and the centre remains open.
"Young people who are discharged from the Iveagh Centre have a care plan in place to ensure they and their families have support."
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