A Donegal Dail deputy is warning that “a serious crisis” in home help services is inevitable unless the government provides more resources, including an increase in existing home supports.
Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty’s comments follow the disclosure figures from the HSE revealing that in Donegal, the total number of home help hours delivered last year was over 6% greater than forecasted demand.
It means 37,200 more hours needed that had been originally planned for.
The figures are stark.
They show that the total number of home help hours provided for the first three months of this years is up by nearly 11,000 compared to the same period in 2015.
That’s an increase of well over 7%.
Across the State, the total number of home help hours provided last year exceeded projected demand by more than 155,000 hours.
In Donegal’s case, an additional 37,247 hours were needed to to satisfy demand.
Deputy Doherty says the figures he has obtained from the HSE through Freedom of Information paid a harrowing picture of a looming crisis.
He says the figures reflect an increase in demand for home help services, which is to be expected as our population ages and the number of older people increases.
Deputy Doherty says that, in fact, 2,000 people more than had been expected needed home help supports last year.
He points ot that in Donegal, the number of people requiring home help in 2015 was also much higher than forecast, with the county having the highest percentage difference between target hours and actual hours delivered out of the counties in the HSE area, much higher than Cavan/Monaghan or Sligo/Leitrim.
Deputy Doherty describes it as “a nightmare scenario,” saying it will have implications not only for hospital discharges by delaying the return of patients to their communities but it will also endanger the lives of those who need help the most.
