Disabled Poppy Blewett-Silcock, 10, in care victory

The family of a disabled 10-year-old have won their fight for extra funding to care for her at home. Tymandra Blewett-Silcock and Craig Blewett, from Machen in Caerphilly, asked the local health board (LHB) and social services for more support in caring for daughter Poppy.

But the Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board and Caerphilly social services could not agree who was responsible.

However, after more than two years, social services has agreed to help.

Poppy has Warburg Micro Syndrome, meaning she is blind, unable to speak or walk and needs tube feeding.

Her parents fought to have a system called direct payments, which would give them a set budget to arrange the care best suited to Poppy’s needs, but this had been turned down.

But after social services agreed to help, Ms Blewett-Silcock said: “It means the world to our family.

“It’ll just mean a much easier life, and a better quality of life for Poppy as well.

“With just more help, getting her off to school, bath her, maybe swim more, it’s just really, really good news.”

Poppy’s needs range from respite and nursing care, to equipment such as a hoist, specialist wheelchair and bath seat.

Mr Silcock said: “Because Poppy is tube fed and they said that needs to be done by a nurse and so, therefore, they won’t give us payments because they won’t use part of their budget to pay for her nursing needs.

“Whereas the health side says tube feeding isn’t a nursing need – anyone can do it.”

The children’s commissioner for Wales had warned that Poppy’s human rights could have been breached by the situation.

Commissioner Keith Towler claimed earlier this month that a failure to resolve the situation would be a potential breach.