Danny Healy-Rae demands answers on home care shortages

I want to thank all the people that are involved in home care, all the home helps around the county of Kerry and indeed around all the other counties. But I know the great work that they do in the confined time and space that they're given to do it. And while I welcome, you know, regulation, and this is the bill says we'll ensure home care is regulated and standards are in place for all home care supports for all who need it. The question I'm asking you, Minister, if there's a deficiency in the amount of home help that people are getting, i.e. the older people, will that be highlighted in this bill or is this bill catering for that? Because I know of too many people that are not getting enough home help and that are left behind on weekends and holidays and indeed when the staff who are entitled to their holidays go on their own holidays and have things arranged, there's no one there to take up the slack. And these elderly people, they're otherwise compromised and I'm wondering, will this bill ensure that they're seen after properly because that's what it should be doing. And we do need an awful lot of more home help. And you see, when someone goes into the university hospital in Chile and they have a virus or whatever it is, and then they fully intend to come home. But they may have to go to the community or a district hospital or in any one of the different places. And then from the time they left the regional or the university hospital, a home care plan should be put in place at that point because there are only going to be a certain amount of days, a week or the very most two weeks in the community hospital or the district hospital. And that's not happening, minister. I'm asking you, because this is where the fears void and hurt happens because the family who may be not available themselves or far away or whatever. And if we want to keep these old people in their homes or these people that are not able to manage for themselves in their own homes at that time that they leave the university hospital, there should be some home care plan put in place at that time. It shouldn't be left to the managers in the district hospital who are then asked after the week or two to make that bed available for someone else. The conveyor belt keeps going on and people just don't stop needing help and another person needs to go into that bed. But the home health should be in place and we should have enough home health and I have known cases and I can't understand it because I know young fellas that train for to be home health and I've often asked them, are you working? They're not working. And at the same time, I know elderly people in the other side, they can't get home health. It was awarded to them and allocated to them, but no one showed up because we were told that we keep getting told we don't have the staff. So something, if this bill is going to mean anything, this needs to be dealt with as well to explain if there is or if there isn't home health available, are staff trained up? Because if they're not trained up, they should be trained up. And like some other deputies said here previously, maybe we're not paying the home health enough. Maybe there's too much pressure being put on them because I hear that they're being told to go here, there and go to the next person. And, you know, it hurts me very much when I hear that the home health is not allowed to do certain things for an elderly person who may be not as agile or as mobile to do something for themselves and a small little thing like that. But I know that some of them do anyway, and like I said at the start, they're supposed to not do some of these things, and I think that's ridiculous. But we need to, you know, develop a model like they have in Denmark. There's actually hardly any nursing homes there. Why is that? Everyone is being seen after in their own homes, where it costs a lot less. I think you need to look into it a whole lot more and go greater in depth into it. I appreciate that you're seeing after the side where people that wouldn't be properly trained or maybe got vetted or whatever, you know, there could be other problems or whatever. So you're going to see after that side of it, but the side of it where the patient or the elderly person or the disabled person is being left without home help and that we need to work harder than that. We have other issues in Kerry, Minister, as well, which all concerns elderly people. We have a new community hospital, finished with almost a year now in Killarney. It's a community hospital stroke nursing unit, and it's there on the side of the bypass and not being opened. And to see what's depending, when that would be opened, we're supposed to develop the Old District Hospital and the Columbaners Home to have a primary care centre, have more respite beds, because we know that, and people are being told that they're entitled to four weeks respite in the year, where there's carers mining for them at home and have to be with them all the time. And those people are entitled a bit of respite, and they're not getting it, because we don't have the bids for respite in Killarney, in Kinmare, in Lysdor, in Dingle, in Tarsavine or anywhere. We don't have enough respite beds, and then we're waiting for a minor injuries unit in the town of Killarney. This could be put into the old buildings, and it could be, you know, a new modern unit. The space is there, but we're waiting for the new hospital to open. What's the cause of it? What's the delay? Have you the staff engaged? Have you the staff found? Them are the questions that people are being asked. So, carers provide invariable service. And some of them were terrorised with the notion that the revenue commissioners were going after them, and many of them were wondering, what will I be doing for, what will I be cut for? And these things are terrible. And the amount of lines that the media gave it was totally out of balance and out of kilter altogether. When maybe it's not, the most of it is not true at all. The carers, we, it was one of the things that we look for in our programme to support the government, was the means test. Because many of the people wouldn't be caring for their people at home if they were to get anything for it. But they're doing it voluntarily. They do it anyway, which is very unfair. The amount of money that these carers, family carers, are saving the state, no one could put a price in it. They need to be seen after. And the means test is totally out of kilter. And we're helping them in a small way this year. It's supposed to be doing over five years. I'm asking that he expedite that. And as well as that for elderly people, I see a great need for therapy, for physiotherapy. When all people go into hospital and they have other problems, they have viruses and they have different issues, but we don't have enough physiotherapists in our hospitals. And what would be wrong, Minister, in having physiotherapists called to their homes? And, you know, because if they can't move around, if there's something stiff with a leg or whatever it is, or a hand, and physio works for a lot of people and it will work for them people as well. And we'd be saving a lot of money if we were to head people with those therapies and ensure they get them in their home or wherever they are, whether it is in hospital or whether it is in whatever hospital or whatever care city it is, we should be providing more physiotherapy for those people. And there's a lot of other therapies that elderly people would benefit from because when they're not moving around at all, at all, they seize up and it's worse and worse. The problem, and then you need two people to operate these hoists and all these things, whereas if they could be going as good as they could for as long ever as they could, we'd be saving the state a lot of money. We need to look into a lot of those things. Again, I say, why don't we look at the Denmark model to see what's happening there as to why we have, they have hardly any use for North Sea homes. And look, I do appreciate the great work that our North Sea homes are doing and indeed our community hospitals like Kinmear and St. Columbanis' and all the community hospitals, the great work they do for long-term care as well as short-term care because they are provided and people are very appreciative of those settings as well as the private care. And then we have great, in Kerry, we have great private North Sea homes and they're doing great work, but they're all under savage pressure and it's even hard at any stage to get a bid for someone. And like I said to you, when people are ready to go home, we should have home help, a home care package. There's a lot talked about it, but it doesn't materialise when the person is a good bit better and can and should go home. They don't seem to be able to, even though they're awarded it and the hours are allocated, it doesn't materialise because for whatever reason it is, like I said to you, I met the youngsters that are trained up and at the same time they're saying that they haven't got any work yet. And then you meet the elderly person who says that their family we were awarded home help, such a date, but no one has arrived yet. I'm asking now, in line with this new bill that you're bringing in to protect and to see after other measures, try and get some section working to see how long are people without home help, how long are they, when they come out of the university hospital and go to the district hospital, how long after that are they waiting to get home help? Because that's what's happening, and do you know what happens then? When the thing gets out of order altogether, the next thing they have to apply for the fair deal and try and go into a nursery home. The family don't want it, certainly the elderly person doesn't want it, and he shouldn't want it either because it's cost you a lot more. And that's what I'm saying to you. So, look, there's some good in it, but I hope that a lot more good will come out of this because we do need to ensure that anyone that needs home help and is awarded it is get it. And this, that should be included in this bill as well, to have someone go around and see what's happening or why can't they get it? Thank you very much. Thanks, Deputy Minister.