The HSE is to close Respite Services in the Rowan Unit which caters for HIV sufferers from 1st September.

These services are to be moved to the Homeless Agency and catered for by the Simon Community on Ushers Island in the city centre.

Today on RTE radio in an interview with Myles Duncan, the Simon Community confirmed that it only has three beds ready to cater for respite services for the service users.

Currently there are eight beds available and in full use in Cherry Orchard Hospital.

Patients who will be discharged this weekend will have no where to go to cater for their respite.

The HSE have repeatedly said that there will be a full alternative service available to the patients but this is clearly not the case.

It could be October or November before a new unit to provide respite services is fully operational in Ushers Island.

This means that AIDS patients who require respite could be neglected or end up occupying the needed beds in mainstream hospitals.

Over the last number of months patients, families and local People Before Profit councillor Brid Smith and TD Joan Collins, have been campaigning to stop the closure of the Rowan Unit.

But the pleas have once again fallen on deaf ears in the HSE. Patients whose health is compromised by the HIV virus have been sustained and kept alive by the Cherry Orchard services over many years.

Should the unit close on Sept 1st this will bring to an end a vital service provided in a safe clinical environment for dozens of patients from all over the country. The Rowan Unit is the only respite service of its kind in Ireland.

Despite the fact that Simon provides for those with homeless issues, more than half the clients who use the Rowan Unit are not homeless. There is no guarantee that the alternative service will be available to them and this needs to change.

We are calling on the HSE not to discharge patients from the Rowan Unit until a full and adequate alternative is in place. This could mean keeping the Rowan Unit open for just another few months and in the meantime ensuring that all required medical services will be available in the Simon Community.

Local TD Joan Collins has said "It is outrageous that we can find another 1 billion euro next month to pay off bondholders and cannot accomodate some of the most vulnerable members of our society. I am publicly calling on the HSE and on the Minister responsible Roisin Shortall to postpone the closure of the Rowan Unit and allow for time and further discussion on meeting the needs of these patients."

For further info contact Cllr Brid Smith on 087 9090166