Home 'bitter' sweet home for Iona

The 30-year-old who lives with cerebral palsy has fought to be allowed to return home but will still not be getting the care package she wanted and says  she deserves as a human being.

Although health and social care bosses "pulled the rabbit out of the hat" to provide two carers to visit her while she was home for a couple of assessment days last week, Iona says she was told that the same ’ideal’ care package would not be on offer when she comes home full-time.

There is a chance social services will pay for an early morning care visit but if that does not happen, then Iona faces 14 hours in bed.

"To have to spend 14 hours stuck in bed will be the ruin of me. Bed sores, pressure sores, verging on starving myself of food and drink so I don’t need to go to the toilet or have accidents, basically not eating or drinking so I can suit them! It’s inhumane how I’m being treated, it’s as if I don’t matter," said Iona who is taking advice from civil rights experts about her plight.

What she is being currently offered would see the first call of the day not until 10am, the other visit would see her in bed for just after 8pm. Initially Iona was going to hold out for a better deal before returning home but has now decided to keep up the fight from Fort William.

"I don’t want to be in bed until that time. I am a young person, I want a life. I want to be able to do things but because of these timings I won’t be able to do much at all. Fourteen hours in bed will restrict me, keep me inside these four walls.

"They have broken every rule in the civil rights book and they know it. I had an after-hours visit from care bosses, they were very apologetic but their words mean nothing if no actions follow.  Other people get the care packages they need in heir own homes so why not me? It changed when they said I needed two carers because of  spasms I was having but that was just after I’d had surgery, it’s settled down now. The truth is that they just dropped me. I’m angry, I shouldn’t have to be fighting like this. They’ve messed up, they just don’t want to admit it.

"My mum, who passed two years ago, was a nurse. She wouldn’t have allowed this to have happed. She’d have had their heads on the wall," said Iona who is struggling to come to terms with the death of her dog who had to be put down when her Nairn stay extended. Kennel fees would have costed £1,800 a month on top of household bills she was still having to cover while on benefits.

You can still who support for Iona by adding your name to the 1,000 plus signatures already on a change.org petition to bring her home with the care package she needs to live well independently.

"I know what my body can do and I know I only need one carer - not two, at the times I used to have before they sent me away to Nairn. They’re just not listening to me," she said.

A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: "We understand this must be a very frustrating time for Iona and we would like to apologise for the time it is taking to source a package of care back closer to home. We continue to work closely with all parties to look at all options to try and resolve this situation, and we will continue to strive towards resolving this with a positive outcome as soon as we can."