A man born without hands or legs has been told he will soon no longer get a daily visit from a care worker to help him shower and get dressed.
DJ Calvert told BBC News Northern Ireland that he’s been let down and that he’s not the only one.
It was proof that Northern Ireland’s health and social care system had crashed, said the 49-year-old.
His care is provided by an independent firm on behalf of the Northern Health Trust. The trust said it was committed to providing an alternative package.
It added that it understood the worry it was causing, and would seek an alternative provider that would support him to continue living independently in his own home.
The care provider said it was increasingly stretched and that more funding was needed for the sector.
Although he lives alone, Mr Calvert, from Portstewart in Country Londonderry, depends on a daily visit from a care worker to assist him with basic hygiene and personal supervision.
For most of his life that support was provided by his mother but since March this year, she has no longer been able to do what she once did.
A seven-day-a-week care package was then put in place after only one company agreed to provide it, but last week Mr Calvert was contacted by his social worker to say it would end in three weeks.
He told BBC News Northern Ireland that he thought somebody was winding him up.
His care is provided by Connected Health but that’s expected to end on 1 December.
They told BBC News Northern Ireland that it would comment on the care provided to individuals but that like other care providers, they were being increasingly stretched in ever more demanding circumstances.
Eddy Kerr from Connected Health told the BBC’s Evening Extra programme the sector was struggling in terms of staffing, resources and funding.
He added that there was a lot of unmet need out there and certainty, as a provider, they were under pressure to meet that need.
Mr Kerr said the pressure was coming from a lack of funding, and that decisions had to be made weekly, daily, hourly, with regards to the care they were able to provide.
In a statement, Connected Health said that they would continue to lobby hard for the necessary resources to care for the thousands of vulnerable adults waiting for a package of care in Northern Ireland.
The care company said that they were increasingly stretched, but surely they should care for the most needed people first, and I don’t think that there could be anyone more in need than this man.
He should sue the Government because they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, pardon the pun. They have a duty of care towards this man and other people like him.
This has to be one of the sickest stories ever. What the hell is going on with our Government? However, this is nothing unusual – this is normal behaviour these days, which is why people should quit paying their taxes for services they no longer get.
Life today is super unfair and cruel because we force people like this to live like this, and he doesn’t have any other choice.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 