Vol. 411 No. 6
12 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Health if he has any plans to help non-medical card holders and aged people who are recuperating in their homes; and if he has plans to extend the services of district nurse and community care to cover those type of people; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Public Health Nursing Service is available free of charge to all persons with full eligibility and to such other categories of persons and for such purposes as may be specified. A wide range of services has in the past been specified and this specifically includes home nursing services for the elderly for both eligibility categories.
Provision of services to the elderly in their homes is a key element in both the working party report The Year Ahead — A Policy for the Elderly and in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress.
Of the £8 million additional funding made available for services for the elderly in 1990 and 1991, the area to benefit most was the home care services. At least 400 extra staff have been recruited by the health boards comprising nurses, home helps, attendants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and chiropodists to improve these services and all of the health boards have appointed co-ordinators or district liaison nurses to ensure that the elderly in need are identified.
If the Deputy has a specific case in mind, he might let me have details of it.
Is the Minister aware that before the cutbacks in the health services by the present regime all people in need of such services received them but that since then priority has only been given to medical card holders? In Galway city, an area with a population of 50,000, there are only four full-time home help assistants who are earning the great sum of £1.80 per hour. There are only about 30 such assistants in the entire county. There are 12 district nurses in Galway city and 50 throughout the county. How can those people provide the services they are expected to provide? The Minister is misleading the House by saying that the service is available to everybody. If it was I would not have put down this question. This is a general rather than a specific question.
I agree with the Deputy that it is a general question. Therefore, I do not have with me details of the number of nurses and home helps in every community care area.
I gave the Minister the numbers in the Galway area.
As I pointed out to the Deputy, there has been an increase of 400 in the number of staff recruited by health boards specifically targeted towards care of the elderly.
Deputies R. Bruton and Ferris rose.
I want to bring in Deputy Richard Bruton.
Would the Minister not agree that the working group on care for the elderly recommended the recruitment of an extra 250 public health nurses and that these have not been provided? We have not even started to move towards that target. Those figures were way below what they would like to see in terms of European standards. Would the Minister not agree that what Deputy McCormack has said is the reality — care is not being provided because there is not enough public health nursing staff?
No, but I think what is being said is a reflection on the very good people in the health service who are providing a very high level of care for so many of our elderly people. Of course, there is a need to provide more staff but, as I pointed out in reply to the question, the Government provided £8 million between 1990-91 specifically targeted at care of the elderly. As a result, 400 extra staff, which is a very good number when one has regard to the financial difficulties we faced throughout the eighties and continue to face, have been appointed. The Government can take a lot of credit for what has been done. Of course, there is more to be done and we will continue to discharge our responsibilities.
Is the Minister aware that health boards are now requesting contributions from eligible people, people with medical cards, for home help services?
I am not so aware but if the Deputy wants to send me the names of the people I will be glad to look into the matter.
I am glad to hear the Minister say that 400 extra staff have been employed. However, the situation in Galway city — I am talking about specifics — is that two home help assistants who retired have not been replaced, with the result that the number has now been reduced to four. This does not reconcile with what the Minister has said.
As I understand it, home helps are employed on a temporary basis; they are employed on an ad hoc basis by the health board to look after an elderly person at a particular time. That is the general system operated throughout the country. In addition, some health boards provide care attendants, for example, the Eastern Health Board who provide full-time care attendants for people who are more disabled. Other health boards employ a person as a full-time home help to look after a number of elderly people. The number of elderly people who need a home help service is changing all the time and I cannot accept that there is a reduction of the level outlined by the Deputy.
That disposes of questions for today.
