Deputy Pearse Doherty.
DONEGAL Deputy Pearse Doherty has claimed that a serious crisis in home help services is inevitable unless urgent action is taken by the Government to better resource and increase existing home support provisions.
Deputy Doherty’s comments come following the disclosure of figures from the HSE which reveal that in Donegal the total number of home help hours delivered last year was over 6% greater than forecasted demand, with over 37,200 more hours needed than had been originally budgeted.
Even more concerning is the fact that the total number of home help hours provided for the first three months of this year is up by nearly 11,000 compared to the same period in 2015 – an increase of well over 7%
Deputy Doherty said:
“The figures which I have obtained from the HSE through Freedom of Information paint a harrowing picture of a looming crisis within non-acute services which, if it’s to be avoided, requires the government to now take swift and decisive action.
“The data shows that across the state the total number of home help hours which were provided last year exceeded projected demand by more than 155,452 hours.
“In Donegal’s case, the outturn of home help hours in 2015 was actually over 6% more than what had been apportioned, meaning that here in our own county we needed an additional 37,247 hours simply just to satisfy service demand.
“What is more worrying however, is if we examine the number of home help hours which have been supplied for the first three months of 2016, we can see that already 105,284 additional home help hours were delivered in the 26 counties than had been anticipated – well over 4% in excess of official projections.
“During this same three month period, the number of actual home help hours in Donegal were more than 7% above the 2015 figures, which means that even if we stay within the target number of hours for the other nine months of the year, we’ve already overshoot this year’s target by 10,941 hours as of the end of March 2016.
“Of course the figures reflect an increase in demand for home support services by the public, which is to be expected as our population ages and the number of older people increases as a result.
“In fact, over 2,000 people more than had been anticipated needed home help supports last year, that represents a 16% difference compared with the number of people whom it had been expected would need to avail of the service.
“Here in Donegal, the number of people requiring home help in 2015 was also much higher than forecasts had predicted, with the county having the highest percentage difference between target hours versus the actual number of hours delivered out of all the counties in our organisational area: much higher than Cavan/Monaghan or Sligo/Leitrim.
“What’s clear from the data is that if we are to avoid a crisis in home support services, then the Government must deliver on their promise to increase resources in relation to home help hours.
“It’s quite clear that not only are existing forecasts not a true reflection of the demands facing the service, but even if we should take the addition of these extra allocations of home help in excess of targets into account, then anecdotal evidence would suggest that patients feel that they are not receiving an adequate number of hours.
“In essence, if the government fails to act by not providing the additional resources required in order to increase the number of home help hours available, then we will be facing into a situation in the not too distant future whereby some of our most frail and vulnerable citizens will be unable to access home support services.
“Such a nightmare scenario will not only have implications for hospital discharges by further delaying the return of patients to their communities from acute settings, but it will also endanger the lives of those who need help the most.”
