A MUM has spoken out about the crisis point that families are reaching in west Cumbria, saying respite services for young adults are not coming fast enough.

Nicola Webb, 50, of Cleator Moor, has spoken about her struggle to find respite for herself, and her two children, after local services that could provide care for her two children’s disabilities and illnesses closed down.

“I haven’t had a night off since June last year when both of them went for respite,” she said.

“You just don’t have a life away from caring.”

Nicola could only celebrate her birthday in July as her daughter could access care services in Carlisle for the first time.

“It was my 50th birthday... and because she went to California House for the first time, I managed to get out for my tea because I got two carers to look after my son,” she added.

“They couldn’t both go together because there isn’t capacity.”

A temporary contract was previously held by Gregory House in Workington following the abrupt closure of Cavendish House.

However, the Workington care home stopped offering respite care in December, much to the detriment of those in the community who needed it.

A spokesman for Cumbria County Council said: “While there is not currently a buildings-based service providing short breaks for adults in the west of Cumbria, there are opportunities to allow people to access provision elsewhere.

“We have also now commissioned West House to provide a service in west Cumbria and they are in the process of building the necessary bespoke accommodation.”

West House will provide adult respite care services, and build bespoke accommodation to go along side this, but this won’t be available until at least spring 2020.

In the mean time, it will be providing a four-bed interim respite service in Camerton which it hopes will be ready for use in the autumn.

“More and more children are going to be growing into adults but there’s just no services,” said Nicola.

California House, in Carlisle, and the Glenmore Trust, in Penrith, have been accommodating to the needs of people from the west, but they can only help a handful of people at any given time.

She added: “[California House] is such a nice place, and it’s been all done up, but there’s going to be even more referrals and even more people wanting to go there because that’s the only place there is to go.”

It is a source of anxiety for parents, and carers, who worry about what may happen to the young adults in an emergency as a result of the lack of adequate services.

Mrs Webb questions: “If I were to have a crisis tonight with both my two, I really don’t know what would happen, because there is nowhere to go?

“If I were to go to hospital for two days, who is going to look after my daughter and see to her medical needs?”