An upcoming Bill, providing regulation and independent oversight for private, home support providers is long overdue but needs far more clarity.
Aontú Senator Sarah O’ Reilly issued that caveat, saying that as the introduction of the Bill is absolutely necessary to protect vulnerable adults, who are essentially inviting strangers into their home to care for them, it is all the more important that safeguards are in place to ensure it works as it should .
She says
“A lot of this is very opaque and I want greater clarity on how inspections will work in practice. Unlike residential settings, these services are delivered in private homes. How will HIQA ensure standards are maintained, while respecting the privacy of individuals and families? How will consistency be monitored when care is taking place in thousands of different homes across the country?
Home care needs to be radically transformed in this country. We have an ageing population, yet we know that for the first three months of this year alone over 5,000 people were waiting for a home support service to commence.
I spoke to carers who were available and ready to work but the HSE had not released funded packages or hours because it had gone over budget. The staff were there for the people who desperately needed care and yet the service was not being delivered. What I was hearing was that the HSE had run over budget, care packages had been approved, and that was giving a false reading of the situation because even though the packages had been approved, the HSE had not released them.
This is very uncertain and is leading to home carers leaving the industry as they have scant job security. At a time when families are struggling with ever increasing cost of living prices it’s not difficult to understand this
The Government is increasingly reliant on private providers to deliver home care while simultaneously failing to provide a public care structure that is fit for purpose.
We need to know just how many approved home care hours are currently going unfilled and what concrete steps are being taken to ensure that support is actually being provided.
Anything else is window dressing”
