AN ELDERLY couple who look after their disabled adult daughter claim they are being failed by the care system.

Ron and Diane Marquis, of Smithfield, near Longtown, are both in their seventies and have health problems. Yet they are full-time carers for Diane’s 51-year-old daughter Joanne Craven, who has complex needs.

The couple allege they have had no respite for more than three years and have now been left to struggle on without support after Joanne fell and broke her leg.

The couple say they have reached the end of their tether, and fear other people across the county are also finding it hard to cope.

It has prompted them to hit out at the wider health and social care system, claiming that efforts to join up services and provide more care at home are simply not helping those who need it most.

NHS and care chiefs insist the couple have been offered support since Joanne’s fall, and say they are working with the family.

Joanne was born with cerebral palsy and has complex learning disabilities due to her brain not developing properly. She also has epilepsy, spinal problems and suffers from Crohn’s disease.

“In those days they said she wouldn’t live until she was 16,” said Diane. “She can’t really do anything for herself. She needs 24/7 care.”

Joanne’s father died when she was younger and Diane remarried in 1984.

Back then Ron worked at Sellafield and they lived in west Cumbria. But following a triple heart bypass, he was forced to retire early on health grounds of his own.

With little financial support, Diane - who has had her own battle with cancer and other health issues - said they were forced to sell their house and downsize, prompting the move to Smithfield.

She said they have always put Joanne first and struggled on, but are not getting any younger.

“We are both in our seventies. We’re exhausted,” said Diane.

Up until 2015, the couple said they received regular respite breaks, but claim changes to the system meant that these stopped. They say they have since been fighting to get that respite support reinstated, so far without success.

Their only breaks have been when Joanne was at a day centre, but her recent fall has put those visits on hold.

The accident happened while they were on holiday in a specially-adapted caravan at Ayr in Scotland. Joanne tripped and fractured her leg in three places, leaving her in a wheelchair with a full leg cast.

She was in hospital in Ayr for a few days, then was due to be transferred back to Cumbria.

Diane said: “They couldn’t get a bed in Carlisle for her, then there was no transport to get her home and they were arguing over who should fund it - England or Scotland.”

With nowhere to stay and Diane having her own hospital appointment to attend, the couple decided to take her home themselves.

“We had no choice. We couldn’t leave her there alone so we loaded her into the car like a sack of potatoes. It took us about three-and-a-half hours to get back and she was in pain,” she said.

When they arrived home, just before the last bank holiday weekend, they expected to get home care. But Diane claims they have had very little support.

“We’ve had arguments about whether she is an NHS or social care patient.

We were told community care couldn’t come in because they were operating to full capacity,” she alleged.

She said they were assessed by an occupational therapist and physiotherapist, who recommended that Joanne needed a hospital bed and hoist at home.

But Diane said she became so distressed at the suggestion, they had to turn it down.

“As she soon as Joanne heard that she just flipped. She likes things to be a certain way and it was just upsetting her,” she said. “I feel like because we refused the hospital bed we haven’t had any help for weeks.”

The North Cumbria Health & Care System insisted that they have carried out assessments and offered support.

A spokeswoman said: “The Brampton and Longtown Integrated Care Community which includes professionals from health, social care and general practice have completed comprehensive assessments together which has involved a range of professionals from district nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, GPs and adult social care jointly.

“They have held regular meetings to co-ordinate the care we have offered. We are in frequent contact with Miss Craven and her family and we will continue to liaise with them directly.”

But the couple do not believe the system is working as it should be.

“We’ve been left here. Nobody has even been in to check that Joanne is alright. We’ve been just about managing, but nobody knows that,” alleged Diane.

“It’s absolutely not working. We’ve just been left out on a limb. It upsets me seeing her like this.

“I used to think it couldn’t get any worse but when I look back, it has. They are supposed to be investing in social care but I don’t know where that is going. We don’t see it.”

Ron added: “They have cut cottage hospital beds. She should really have gone somewhere like that but there was nowhere. There’s nothing joined up at all.”

Diane added: “I don’t think I’ve been out in three weeks, except to doctor and hospital appointments. I’d just like to be able to go somewhere.”