By Eilish O’regan
Copyright independent
Around 4,833 are waiting for home care across the country, some needing the support for the first time and others hoping to get additional hours to continue to live independently at home.
The smallest waiting list is in the HSE Dublin midlands region covering Dublin south, west and south-west as well as Kildare, west Wicklow, Laois and Offaly.
Cork and Kerry are also badly hit with 933 waiting, followed by Dublin south-east with a backlog of 779 people, and the mid-west where 740 are on the waiting list.
There were 600 waiting for the service in Dublin north-east, including Louth and Meath, according to figures provided by the HSE to Cork East TD Pat Buckley in July.
Of the 4,883 people waiting -nationally, 2,198 are first-time applicants and 2,635 are in need of additional hours.
The provision of care to meet the needs of our population is challenged by a wide geographic spread, longer travel time and the often complex care needs
A spokesman for the HSE West and North West said: “The provision of care to meet the needs of our population is challenged by a wide geographic spread, longer travel time and the often complex care needs of our service users, when compared to more densely populated urban areas.”
He added: “HSE West and North West is fully committed to supporting -older people to return home, or remain at home, for as long as possible where this is their wish.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds, Friday, September 12
“However, it is important to note that while the resources allocated for home care across the system is substantial, it is finite and service delivery must therefore be delivered within the funding available, which may lead to delays occurring.”
In its response, the HSE said demand for home support “continues to increase due to population growth and the increasing dependency of the growing numbers of people aged over 80 years”.
The home-support service is managed by the local home support management team within each health region to ensure that “this key service is available at the required times, in a flexible way and at the appropriate standard to support service users’ assessed needs”.
“In the context of increasing demand, priority is given to those being discharged from acute hospitals who are able to return home with supports and to those in the community with priority needs.
“The service is currently provided by healthcare assistant home-support staff directly employed by the HSE or when commissioned, by staff working with voluntary and private providers who have formal service arrangements with the HSE,” the spokesperson said.
Recruitment and retention of home-support staff for both direct and indirect service provision remains a “significant challenge, leading to capacity issues cross the health regions”.
The latest available preliminary data is from the end of May. As of that point, no person was waiting on home-support funding, the HSE said.
Nationally 24 million hours are provided, and of this 4,316,693 hours are for HSE West and North West.
