'I'm a single dad of a disabled daughter... families like mine are forgotten'

A dad has told of his fight to get the required care for his disabled daughter with additional needs. Darren Bailey, from Irlam, is the father of 12-year-old Freya, who was born with two holes in her heart and has cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

To ease the pain of her incurable condition, she has to have multiple physiotherapy sessions a week - which is not available on the NHS - costing almost £1,000 per month. Darren, 50, is also constantly having to fork out to upgrade specialist equipment as she grows and her needs change, recently spending £3,000 on an off-road buggy so they can go for country walks.

But while he is having to deal with the rising cost of bills, amid the cost of living crisis, on top of additional costs for his little girl, from the start of the year up until recently, he says he has had to "battle" with local authorities to get a new assessment of the care Freya needs.

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She previously received 15 hours of social services care while her time was split between her parents' homes, however, due to a change in circumstance and through mutual agreement by both parents, Freya now resides with her single dad the majority of the time. But Darren says Salford City Council “refused” to carry out a new assessment despite their situation changing.

He has had to be on and off from work with his job at United Utilities as a water engineer in order to look after Freya. After what he says has taken months of calls and emails, he has been granted 63 hours of care for his daughter, and is now getting back into his usual working routine of 12-hour shifts.

“It’