Family told brain-damaged girl no longer qualifies for NHS-funded care
The home care for a nine-year-old girl with damage to 90% of her brain could be cut, a family is told….
Image copyright Family photo The family of a nine-year-old girl with severe brain damage have been told her NHS-funded home care could end because she no longer qualifies for help.
Tehyah Solan-Clarke, from Saddleworth, suffered damage to 90% of her brain after a series of strokes in 2014.
Her care was due to end in January, before Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams’ intervention led NHS bosses to agree to meet her family.
An NHS spokesman said the meeting would determine “safe and appropriate” care.
Tehyah’s mother Sam Solan said the situation was “scary, because the carers are a massive help”.
“Them keeping on top of things has helped keep her alive,” she said.
“If the care is taken off us, it’s going to be really hard.”
Tehyah, who cannot communicate or feed herself, has been provided with 74 hours a week of “end of life care”, funded by Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), due to her original prognosis.
Her family said they were informed in July 2019 that she no longer met qualifying criteria for that care and “never really had”.
As a result, they said her daytime care hours were removed immediately and were told overnight care would end in January.
Her father Aaron Miller said it was imperative care continued, as her condition remained the same and she still required 24-hour care.
“Through the night, if her oxygen levels drop, someone has to be with her all the time,” he added.
The CCG said it was “unable to comment on the details of individual cases”, but had agreed to hold a meeting on Thursday after being contacted by the Labour MP.
A spokesman said it would “identify the best way to address [Tehyah’s] needs”, adding: “We will always go the extra mile to make sure care packages are safe and appropriate.”
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