Trevor Sargent
Ceist:65 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health the plans, if any, he has to update and expand services at local health centres, particularly to the elderly and the vulnerable in society. [17058/95]
Written Answers. - Health Services Provisions.
Limerick East): As the Deputy will be aware the provision of health services in the first instance is a matter for the health boards.
Health centres play a crucial role in the delivery of primary and community health care. The range of services which might be available from these premises is extremely wide. It is a matter for the health boards to ensure that adequate necessary services are provided locally and also to ensure that these services are provided on an equitable basis to groups such as the elderly and vulnerable in society.
The strategy document — Shaping a Healthier Future — recognises the crucial role of health centres in the provision of preventative and other services in the community and indicates that more health centres will be provided and existing centres will be improved.
The development of services in the community will continue to gather momentum. In line with the health strategy, community services will continue to be expanded on the basis of appropriate local catchment areas and healthcare needs.
Trevor Sargent
Ceist:66 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health the plans, if any, he has to update the home help service with a view to providing elderly persons with a better quality of life; and if he will provide a register of local elderly persons, especially where one elderly person is the carer of the other, to the local health centres, thus providing an essential service. [17059/95]
Limerick East): Under section 61 of the Health Act, 1970, health boards may make arrangements to assist in the maintenance at home of persons who but for the provision of such a service would require to be maintained otherwise than at home. This section empowers, without obliging, health boards to provide support services such as home help, laundry and meals.
The organisation of the home help service in general came under the scrutiny in a recent report commissioned and published by the National Council for the Elderly in November 1994. My Department is currently considering, in consultation with the chief executive officers of the health boards, a number of aspects of the home help scheme, including the overall organisation of the service and the variations from board to board.
The report, The Years Ahead — A Policy for the Elderly recommended that the health boards should appoint a co-ordinator of services for the elderly and that they should also maintain a register of elderly people at medical and social risk. I am aware that the health boards, under the auspices of the public health nurse, currently maintain such lists. Obviously such lists will indicate whether an elderly person is being cared for at home and the circumstances of the individual providing that care.