‘Home-care increase is not enough’

AN INCREASE to home-care packages under new plans to tackle the A&E crisis is just a drop in the ocean and leaves community care still in crisis, according to Age Action.

The Winter Initiative Plan, launched on Friday, includes provision of an extra 950 home-care packages spread across ten hospitals. This is part of a €40m Government plan aimed at tackling spiralling trolley figures.

A spokesman for Age Action said yesterday: ‘Any increase in the number of home-care packages is welcome as the situation is so dire. However this increase is just a drop in the ocean, we are still providing less care than in 2011.’

In 2011, elderly people receiving home help got on average 43 minutes weekly, but that has now dropped to just 32 minutes. Age Action warned the number of people needing home care continues to rise.

Just two weeks ago, Waterford hospital consultants were stunned to find they could not discharge patients into the community as the HSE is ‘prudently managing’ the number of home-care packages available. This is due to financial constraints.

The Winter Initiative Plan also targets so-called ‘delayed discharges’ – hospital patients who can leave but only with extra supports.

The new plan will limit the number of such patients to 500 – having risen to over 800 last year. It is not clear what will happen if this is breached. It’s also not clear what will happen if the new limit of 236 patients on trolleys is breached. Funding for just 55 extra beds is included.

The Age Action spokesman said: ‘The key question is whether enough resources will be found to enable the HSE to keep those targets.’

‘We are still providing less support than in 2011’