The Director of a private home-care service based in Waterford says families are turning to them as waiting lists increase.
More than 7,000 people across the country are waiting for home-help packages.
Danette Connolly is Director of Care at Home Instead Senior Care.
She said that it can be a very worrying and uncertain time for those with elderly relatives.
“Home-help hours are particularly vulnerable to being cut and that will have consequences for seniors who are waiting to be discharged from hospital or are in receipt of home-help hours.”
“We have people that are already getting care, maybe the situation has got more complex and they’re not able to get an increased package.
“Some of those people are adding in a bit of private care.
“We also have people that can’t get packages, they’re on the waiting list.
“We do a lot of work on behalf of the HSE and we see that there are no packages being given out at the minute.”
Danette Connolly says there was a hope that funding would be made available but that the numbers of people contacting them has started to increase in recent weeks.
“The initial reaction was hope that it would change quite quickly.
“The reality is that there’s no sign of any immediate change in money being made available to the local HSE to increase the packages.”
Danette Connolly has this advice for families
“While not an ideal solution, there are a few things that families can do to help alleviate the stress of the situation.”
“If at all viable, family members can apply for extended leave from their employers while a more comprehensive care plan is put in place for their elderly relative. It may not be a long-term solution, but employees are entitled to take carers leave of at least 13 weeks to look after a sick or elderly relative.”
“If a family member takes extended leave, they may qualify for Carer’s Benefit. This payment is made to insured people who leave the workforce to care for a person in need of full-time care.”
Having a hospital discharge plan in place for an elderly relative coming home from hospital is imperative. While it may take plenty of time-tabling and co-operation amongst family member, it will make the discharge process easier and less fraught with unforeseen difficulties.
Danette suggests collaboration between family members. “Identify common care responsibilities you need to handle for your family member and work with other family members to ensure these needs are met. Chores such as bathing, dressing, toileting, cooking, cleaning, medication management and medical appointments can be allocated to family members most suited to that particular need.”
“There are community organisations that can help with services such as transport or meal delivery. While it may take time and research, having all the bases covered in rolling out a discharge plan will provide peace of mind and assurance.”
