LOCAL parents with seriously ill children are battling to keep a respite unit open, which they say is an essential lifeline and their only option when it comes to quality care.

But Herefordshire Council, the Wye Valley NHS Trust and the Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group say the respite unit, at No 1, Ledbury Road, Hereford, will close in March 2016, in favour of respite care in the community.

Melissa Boyle, owner of the Velvet Bean chocolate business in the Homend, Ledbury, says that her family and other local families will suffer as a consequence.

Mrs Boyle said: "There is no other option for us except No 1, Ledbury Road. We are just desperate, because we need that unit. It gives us a break as a couple; a little bit of time together, which is so important, even with something as simple as walking the dog or sleeping through the night."

Mrs Boyle has doubts that the use of foster parents, which is being proposed as an alternative to the unit, is the right answer.

She said: "The foster carers would need to be nurses; they would need to be able to administer medicines and their homes would need to be adapted with ramps and hoists."

Mrs Boyle added: "The authorities are basically saying we have been consulted. We have not been consulted. I feel completely failed by social services.

"The unit provides short term respite care for children with complex special needs. Around 30 families from all over Herefordshire including Ledbury, Bromyard and Hereford rely on this unit so they can have a much needed break. This unit allows kids to stay with their friends, socialise and have days out, all thanks to the dedicated, highly professional nursing staff team that work there."

Mrs Boyle added: "If this unit closes, vulnerable families across Herefordshire will lose their respite care. Being a parent and carer is extremely tough. I have two kids, Fergus who is almost 13 and Gwen, aged 11, who have a very rare genetic condition called Cockaynes Syndrome, this causes them to have severe learning difficulties and physical disabilities.

"I have no child care other than school and 1 Ledbury Road. Social services have talked about foster carers to me, but currently there are none available. Also foster care means splitting the children up, they loose their socialising and the safety of 1 Ledbury Road. We as parents would loose all control over who has access to our kids. It seems to me, social services are offering an alternative that's so inferior we won't use it."

And Mrs Boyle believes that "GPs surgeries will be swamped with exhausted carers unable to cope".

Mrs Boyle is asking people to protest by writing to local MPs, Bill Wiggin and Jesse Norman, and also to Social Services.

A joint statement has been issued from Herefordshire Council, Wye Valley NHS Trust and Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

It states: "In Herefordshire there are a number of children and young people who have complex health and care needs, some of whom are currently receiving short breaks at 1 Ledbury Road. Over the last two years, the local authority and health service has worked with the families and carers of those children to develop a range of services to provide community based short breaks and also to increase access to the facilities that other children and their families use in the community.

Herefordshire Council, Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Wye Valley NHS Trust have jointly agreed that the 1 Ledbury Road residential service does not fit with the community based approach.

"We are introducing a short break foster care service that will provide family based local short breaks from November 2015 onwards. We have already received interest from potential foster carers who want to support families by providing short breaks outside residential care and we would like to hear from others who might like to support families in this way."