'People are stressed out and in dire straits.' Longford councillor calls out poor home help support from HSE
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Cllr Garry Murtagh has submitted a motion for the next meeting of Longford County Council in which he calls out the insufficient home help support for older people upon their return home from hospital.
Longford people are being left “stressed out and in dire straits” due to a lack of adequate Home Help support when returning home from hospital, a Longford councillor has warned in a motion submitted for discussion at next week’s meeting of Longford County Council.
In calling on the council to write to the Minister of State with special responsibility for older people Kieran O’Donnell, Councillor Garry Murtagh says patients were being discharged with the necessary paperwork completed for a Home Care Package, only to find inadequate support upon arrival home.
Cllr Murtagh also highlighted the pressure facing local public health nurses and HSE staff, calling on the HSE to step up the recruitment of Home Help workers and improve the availability of support in rural areas.
In his motion, Cllr Murtagh said, “Local Health nurses and HSE staff are at breaking point. The reality is the private agencies in rural Ireland that are meant to support HSE/Home Help staff are not available.”
He added, “Private agencies in rural Ireland are not fit for purpose, minimum wage and lack of sufficient subsidies to cover the ever-rising costs of fuel is leaving it impossible for these agencies to retain staff. The HSE must do more in terms of active recruitment to increase Home Help staff, a core support to secure the future of home care for the elderly.”
The Granard based councillor also called for the roll out of a Care & Repair pilot scheme in Longford.
He stated in his motion, “Furthermore, serious consideration must be given to a fully funded care and repair scheme to support elderly people that have insufficient supports and resources, to have the simplest tasks completed in the home like installing grab rails, changing a light bulb, mowing the lawn, to you and me simple everyday tasks yet difficult tasks for the more vulnerable in our society.”
“We in Longford County Council would fully support a Care & Repair pilot scheme rolled out in Longford.”
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