Richard Bruton
Question:317. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health the steps necessary to be taken to put in place a national statutory homecare scheme; and the date on which he hopes to reach each milestone. [13525/24]
View answerThursday, 21 March 2024
Questions (317)
Written answers
The Programme for Government commits to "Introduce a statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes, which will provide equitable access to high quality, regulated home care".
In 2024, the Department of Health is focused on continuing the development of a regulatory framework for providers of home support services which aims to ensure that service users are provided with regulated care. Work is ongoing within the Department across four broad areas to progress this commitment: Regulation of home support providers; working with the HSE to develop a reformed model of service delivery for home support; the examination of future funding options for home-support services; Implementation of the recommendations of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group.
Regulation of home support providers
Development of a General Scheme to regulate home support services is now at an advanced stage with the Heads of Bill currently being finalised in advance of submitting to Government.
The Health (Amendment) (Licensing of Professional Home Support Providers) Bill is expected to be enacted in 2024 and will establish a licensing system for providers of home support services (public, private and not-for-profit). The regulations will set out the minimum requirements that a home support provider must meet to obtain a license and will confer on the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the authority to grant, amend and ultimately revoke a license if home support providers fail to meet minimum requirements set out in regulations and quality standards.
Transitional timelines are currently being finalised for the registration of home support providers under this framework. Additionally, HIQA is currently developing standards for home support providers which are planned to go out for public consultation in 2024.
Reformed Model of Service Delivery
The DoH is working in partnership with the HSE and others on the continuing reform of the model of service delivery for home support. Funding has been provided for establishment of a National Home Support Office and the Head of Service, and a number of other posts have been recruited. Work is ongoing regarding the development of an IT system which will enhance the quality and efficiency of service delivery.
The HSE will prioritise implementation of interRAI care needs assessment as the single assessment tool for home support services and have included 18,100 interRAI assessments in the 2024 HSE Service Plan. The testing of interRAI in 4 pilot sites provided learning regarding operational aspects of home support services. The Centre for Effective Services evaluation report May 2023 included a list of recommendations to support interRAI rollout nationally. The Department of Health are monitoring implementation plans in order that a single assessment tool will underpin person centred services and appropriate, equitable and timely resource allocation.
Funding
The Department of Health is currently examining a range of funding options for home support. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) undertook a programme of work on behalf of the Department of Health on the potential demand for, and cost of, home support.
www.esri.ie/publications/home-support-services-in-ireland-exchequer-and-distributional-impacts-of-funding
www.esri.ie/publications/demand-for-the-statutory-home-care-scheme.
A rapid response from the European Observatory on Health Systems was commissioned and published in March 2023. It is titled: “Improving Home Care Sustainability in Ireland. Are user charges a promising option?”
eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications/i/improving-home-care-sustainability-in-ireland-are-user-charges-a-promising-option.
Further research is currently underway to enhance the evidence base.
Workforce
Delivering this enhanced capacity requires substantial recruitment and strategic workforce challenges are in evidence in the sector. The Government has started implementing the 16 recommendations of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group set up to examine these challenges in the sector.
Implementation of the 16 recommendations is underway by a cross departmental group, chaired by the Department of Health. The group meets quarterly and publishes progress reports thereafter. A meeting was held on 1st February 2024 with updates to be published shortly. The most recent progress report was published in October 2023. which can be viewed below:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/66dd1-strategic-workforce-advisory-group-on-home-carers-and-nursing-home-healthcare-assistants/.