Dementia care facility to close

Moylinney Elderly Mentally Infirm (EMI) unit in Monkstown, which is the last facility of its kind in the Trust’s area, provides residential care for older people with dementia, Alzheimer’s and other associated mental health conditions that come with old age.

But following a meeting of the Trust Board last Thursday, it has been agreed that the unit is to be shut down and replaced by a purpose-built supported living facility.

A Trust spokeswoman told the Times that Moylinney was “not fit for purpose” and said the time frame for closure would be “determined by the needs of those people who currently reside there”.

The Times understands there are currently three permanent residents at the facility and a number of people are there on a respite basis.

Joe McCusker of the public sector trade union UNISON has hit out at the Trust’s decision and described it as “disgraceful”.

He said: “I am extremely disappointed that the Trust Board has approved plans to close the facility.

“Moylinney is the last remaining residential care home in the Northern Trust area that deals specifically with people suffering from dementia.

“UNISON had called on the Trust to keep the unit open and invest in a comprehensive rebuild of the facility to ensure there is residential care provision for elderly people living with mental health problems in the Newtownabbey area.”

It’s understood the Trust plans to build a new supported living facility for people with dementia in the Newtownabbey area.

• Read more in this week’s Times, October 10 edition.