£33,000 spent on hotel stays in Derry for children in care

Health chiefs in Derry have recently spent £33,000 on hotel accommodation for children who cannot be placed in residential care, it can be revealed today.

Eight children under the care of the Western Trust have been put up in hotels in the last three years instead of being placed in residential care homes.

The young people spent a total of 393 nights in local hotels during that period.

Details of the hotel stays emerged following a question in the Northern Ireland Assembly by Foyle SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey.

Mr Ramsey asked the Health Minister, Simon Hamilton, how much his department had spent on using hotels due to the lack of residential care homes in Foyle.

In response, Mr Hamilton said there was no shortage of children’s residential care provision in the Foyle area.

“However, for some young people, accommodation in a children’s home or in supported accommodation would not be deemed appropriate due to the intricacies of the individual care plan which could include risks presented to or by the individual child or young person,” he said.

“The Western Trust has indicated that in the last three years eight young people in the Foyle area had been placed in hotel accommodation at a total cost of £33,000.

“In these circumstances the Trust provides a twenty four hour support package for each young person during their placement in a hotel.”