Robert Troy
Ceist:1739. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health his plans to introduce national standards and a register for home care workers. [34625/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 24 July 2018
Ceisteanna (1739)
Freagraí scríofa
In advancement of the Government’s commitment to promote community-care so that people can continue to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible, the Department of Health is currently engaged in the development of a new, stand-alone statutory scheme and system of regulation for home-care services.
The new home-care scheme will introduce clear rules in relation to the services for which individuals are eligible and in relation to service-allocation. It will therefore be an important step in ensuring that the system operates in a consistent and fair manner and will help to improve access to home-care services on an affordable and sustainable basis. The introduction of a system of regulation for home-care will help to ensure public confidence in the services provided.
The new scheme will also be designed to support family/unpaid carers and will complement and integrate effectively with other health and social-care services such as long-term residential care (including the Nursing Homes Support Scheme), primary and community services and hospital services.
As an initial step in the development of the new scheme, the Department of Health commissioned the Health Research Board to undertake a review of the home-care systems in place in four European countries. The review, which was published last April, will help to ensure that Ireland’s new home-care scheme and system of regulation is informed by international experience. In addition a public consultation on the financing and regulation of home-care was undertaken last year. The purpose of this consultation, to which approximately 2,600 submissions were received, was to enable the Department to find out about the views of service-users, their families and healthcare workers on current and future home-care provision. A report on the findings of the consultation was published on 26 June and will inform the development of the new scheme. Further consultation with service-users will take place later this year, in addition to which the Department is actively engaging with the key NGOs and representative groups.
The development of a statutory scheme and system of regulation for home-care services is a complex undertaking. While the publication of the HRB review and of the report on the findings of the public consultation represent important milestones in the process of developing the new scheme and system of regulation, a significant amount of additional work remains to be carried out before final decisions are taken on the form of the home-care scheme and system of regulation which will apply. This is required if the reforms are to be successful, affordable and sustainable. The Department will continue to prioritise its work in developing the new scheme and every effort will be made to progress this matter as quickly as possible. However a realistic timeframe for the establishment of the new scheme on a statutory basis is 2-3 years.