ALTHOUGH there has been a drop in the numbers of people waiting for home-care packages in the Mid West, Social Democrats local election candidate Sarah Jane Hennelly has slammed Health Minister Simon Harris over his failure to deal with the ongoing crisis in services for older people, saying that not enough is being done.
Figures obtained from the HSE by the Social Democrats show that in spite of the promises for increased funding, the number of older people on waiting lists for home support services has increased.
Six months ago there were more than 6,100 vulnerable older people nationally waiting for a service. In October 2018, the latest month for which there are figures, this had increased to 6,324.
The Mid West has bucked the trend, with figures showing that there were 472 people waiting for the homecare package in May and was reduced to 321 by October.
Ms Hennelly, who is former Social Democrats party chairperson, said that home care support was vital in enabling older people to live independently in their own communities, rather than having to go into a nursing home.
“Enabling older people to remain at home serves them best and is also a more cost-effective way of providing services. Many older people need only a minimum amount of day-to-day support that will allow them to live independently.”
“The government needs to make good on its commitment to introduce a statutory entitlement to home-care as soon as possible, but in the meantime, it should ensure the existing services are adequately funded.”
“There has been a drop in numbers in the Mid West region which is most welcome, but we still have significant work to do to make sure older people are given the dignity they deserve,” said Ms Hennelly.
She went on to emphasise the cost-effectiveness of providing care at home for older people:
“The average weekly cost for home-support services is €160. This is a fraction of the weekly cost of the average nursing home which is over €1,000 per week. Additionally, many older people remain in hospital longer than they need as no home supports are available.
“An acute hospital bed can cost the HSE approximately €6,000 per week and adds to waiting lists as people cannot return home. It is a complete failure of planning and a waste of resources,” she said.
