Robert Ogden School: Parents’ devastation as Sheffield loses only respite care for autistic young people

Sheffield will lose its only specialised respite and residential care for autistic young people this summer, leaving families with nowhere else to turn.

The children cared for by Thurnscoe House, on the grounds of Robert Ogden School in Rotherham, are some of the most vulnerable young people in South Yorkshire. They live with deeply complex conditions that impede and challenge what many abled people take for granted – what they can eat, wear, and what they can tolerate before facing a meltdown.

For these children’s parents, who dedicate their lives 24/7 to give them the best quality of life they can, Thurnscoe provides precious respite care – not only a place where the children can learn to live more fully in a safe environment, but also a lifeline for the parents to take time for themselves again.

Now, it is being lost. In a letter sent home yesterday, the home’s providers, the National Autistic Society, said the provision will close this September. The charity says the home is too small scale for them to efficiently run any longer, against a backdrop of withering financial support from Central Government.

While the SEND-orientated Robert Ogden School will remain open, it is a serious loss for families in South Yorkshire who now have no alternatives.

Sheffield couple Carol and Richard Bally, whose three children Georgia, Jake and Daniel were all due to begin respite stays next week, say the news is “worse than a punch in the gut”.

"The last time we had a break together, just me and Richard, was my birthday when Georgia (16) was a baby,” said Carol.

"We don’t get any rest. We haven’t gone to the cinema or had a meal out together in over a decade. We don’t have that luxury. Richard works 38 hours a week as a plumber, then comes home and doesn’t stop – once he’s through the door he has to help the kids. On the weekends we’re up early to wash them, dress them, and they all have their own strict dietary requirements.

"It would have taken the pressure off of us. It was a lifeline. The kids were really looking forward to it too – when they’re there they have the best support you can possibly imagine.

"Now we’re losing that. We don’t know what we’re going to do.”

None of the parents of Thurnscoe House do. The closure reportedly comes with no consultation with the local authority. Consultations with staff only began yesterday after the announcement.

For children and young people, for whom even small changes and breaks from routine can lead to meltdowns and self-harming, Thurnscoe House has provided a safe, familiar environment where they are supported to enter adulthood. While boarding or on short stays, they are encouraged to learn how to wash, dress and cook for themselves. Children who are unable to take tablets or medication get to see others do it and gradually see how they can too. Young people with anxiety and mental health struggles are helped to manage their emotions and reactions to the world. They are also supported to go on group trips to restaurants and activities, helping them live a more full life.

Chrissy Meledy, chief executive of non-profit Equality and Human Rights UK and a Sheffield parent of an autistic child herself, called the closure “a tragedy”.

"I’ve been supporting families to break the news to their children,” said Chrissy. “They are devastated. I’ve seen children suffer meltdowns – children pulling their own hair and eyelashes out in distress.

"The children and young people at Thurnscoe are some of the most vulnerable autistic people in South Yorkshire, who are at risk of self-harm and even suicide. They need the respite as much for themselves as their parents do, to keep the family unit together. Yet this is the only provision of its kind that serves our area and we are losing it.

"Autistic people, out of all the children with disabilities, are the biggest group in Sheffield. Yet the provision in the city is at crisis point. It’s endemic. The waiting list for a referral for an ADHD or development diagnosis at Ryegate is three years. Investment by central Government has been shrinking for years. Special schools are completely over capacity, and violent incidents are on the rise there because staff are not given adequate training. Parents are fighting for years onw their own to get their children EHCPs because the schools don’t have the money to do it or delay the process for years. Children are either shoehorned into other provisions, sent to mainstream schools that are not equipped to help them, or they are not in school at all. We are talking about children who have difficulty taking a bus because it’s too overstimulating, let alone in a school with 1,000 other children. Figures show we would need at least seven new special schools in Sheffield to meet demand.

"This is a crisis that has been building for years, long before Covid.”

Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive of the National Autistic Society, said: “The quality of support that we deliver and the safeguarding of the people who receive that support is paramount to us.

“We are deeply sorry to confirm that we are proposing to close Thurnscoe House, our residential provision at Robert Ogden School, and find a buyer for our nearby 52 week children’s home, Clayton Croft. We are currently working with families, local authorities and our staff on the next steps around this.

“We remain proud of the work and progress of our residential services, all of which are rated as Good by Ofsted, but know that we are at risk of no longer being in a position to maintain and deliver them in the way that we not only wish to do, but that is imperative for the children and young people who use them. As a provider, we do not operate at a scale in this area that enables us to continue to provide the quality of service that we expect and demand, and also that the children and young people deserve.

“Like many organisations, the financial year 2023/2024 is going to be extremely challenging for our charity. We had to make difficult decisions when setting our budget for 2023/24 to ensure that the organisation did not incur further financial losses. We must make some tough decisions now to ensure our organisation is structured to be as efficient and effective as possible, recognising the financial pressures that are impacting all areas in which we work.

“We are therefore enacting a programme of fundamental change across the organisation, in line with the commitments set out in our new organisational strategy, to ensure that we do not finish in a deficit position at the end of this financial year and that we can continue as a viable and sustainable organisation in the future.

“It is with deep sadness and regret that we have taken this incredibly difficult decision, and we know this will be worrying for staff and the families we support. Our priority is to support those groups as we navigate this period of change.”