Brain Trauma Patients' Day Centre Protest
Health chiefs say they're reviewing older people's mental health services
Last updated 27th Aug 2021
Brain trauma patients have held a peaceful protest outside a South Wales Hospital demanding to know when their day care centre will re-open.
Over the past few weeks, Claire Pearson has been talking to Barbara Thomas and learning about her life changing brain haemorrhage.
However, equally life changing was the service offered by Ward G's day care centre before it closed because of the pandemic.
It provided respite care and rehab to some of the most vulnerable people who've suffered brain injuries.
Barbara held back tears as she told how her husband would take her there every week to meet friends and receive help with her recovery.
When she started, she visited in her wheelchair but over the coming months and with the help of physio, she was able to do more and more for herself.
She recalled how they would paint together, bake cakes and do gardening. They were all small tasks, which she says were the building blocks to so much of their recovery.
Since the pandemic arrived and the service closed, Barbara and her friends have lost contact and she now has to pay for a private respite service, which costs about £60 a day.
She has nothing but praise for the care she receives there, but it's at a cost. The NHS service was, of course, free.
So today, I got to finally meet her and other patients to hear their stories.
Joyce Downey, from Neath, suffered a nervous breakdown and says the day care unit was a huge help.
She says her friends and family saw a huge difference in her recovery and that she only wishes other people could have benefited from the service the same way she has.
She says it brought back her interest in crosswords and encouraged her to start engaging with other people again.
A spokesman for Swansea Bay University Health Board said: “The service was closed due to the pandemic, and continues to be closed, as we do not want to place already vulnerable people in situation where they may be more exposed to Covid.
“As with all our services we continue to monitor the situation and follow the guidance and support issued by the Welsh Government and Public Health Wales.
“We are currently consulting on the future of older peoples mental health services which will include a review of Day Hospital provision.”