Parkes MP Mark Coulton is “disappointed” Northcott will be closing at Dubbo but said there were other options for people requiring disability services.

A change that came with the National Disablity Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was that funding went directly to clients for them to decide what services they used, where as previously the funding went to the providers and they supplied the service, he said.

“So the client funding model means that people can choose which service they use,” he said.

When asked if he would echo the Health Services Union’s call for a second chance for the Dubbo office, the MP said he did not really want to tell Northcott what it should do.

“If they decided to hang on for another 12 months and see if they could make it work, I’d be very pleased, with that because I know they have a very good reputation in the disability sector,” Mr Coulton said.

The MP undertook to provide assistance to any Northcott clients needing help find other providers.

“The National Disablity Insurance Agency will help clients to relocate to other services with that process,” he said.

“If anyone does find themselves in that position my office does a lot of work in that disability sector, helping people that are having issues either with their provider or through through the NDIS.

So if that’s the case, I and my staff will work very hard to help people but at this stage I’m not aware that anyone has come to me.”

EARLIER:

Northcott workers at Dubbo are “devastated” about the organisation’s decision to cease operations in the city, their union says.

The disability services provider on Friday confirmed reports it would close its doors next month after more than 25 years.

The move will leave 22 workers out of a job and about a hundred clients looking for new providers of support.

Health Services Union (HSU) organiser Randall Millington met with members on Thursday at Dubbo.

“I spent two and a half hours with these people, they’re devastated, absolutely devastated, because they’ve literally worked their hearts out for a long time for Northcott, and they’re faced with the prospects of losing their jobs on March 14,” he said.

Those workers face a time of uncertainty.

“Twenty-two of our members are going to pay with their jobs, they don’t know how they’re going to pay their mortgages, whether they’ll even get further employment,” Mr Millington said.

The HSU said the decision would affect communities as far away as Bourke and called on Northcott to give the Dubbo office a “second chance”.

“The families are devastated as well,” Mr Millington said.

“It’s just a terrible situation.”

Northcott noted increased competition since the National Disability Insurance Scheme was rolled out and said it was “not able to attract enough customers and experienced staff to support them”.

On Friday Northcott CEO Kerry Stubbs said the organisation’s focus would be assisting its customers to transfer to other providers.

“Supporting people with disability remains our priority and Northcott’s primary focus will be assisting our current Dubbo customers to transfer to the provider of their choice,” she said. “We are confident that we can support them in this as there is a range of suppliers in the market.

“Similarly, we know that other providers will be interested in talking to our experienced staff about employment options.

“While we have indicated that we will close our operations on 15 March 2019, we will continue to provide support as needed to those customers that have not yet transited to other providers.

“Our customers have already been contacted about the closure and we will be engaging with each one to assist them where needed.”

You can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Daily Liberal. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up to our free or subscriber only newsletters below: