Families monitor death notices to see if care hours are ‘freed up’ after funerals

People waiting for home help in County Galway are ‘monitoring newspaper death notices’ to see if hours of care may be ‘freed up’ after someone passes away.

That’s according to Fianna Fáil TD for Galway East, Anne Rabbitte, who said it was a sad reflection on our health service that people are literally waiting for others to die so that they can receive necessary care.

Deputy Rabbitte said restriction on new applicants for home help services is a cruel and targeted reduction in support for the most vulnerable in society. She said the move affects the elderly and those with a disability.

“Most people want to be cared for at home but families are now seemingly being locked out from the system that’s meant to help them. It’s causing a great deal of distress for families across Galway,” she said.

She pointed out that it costs the Health Service Executive (HSE) around €860 per day for a bed in an acute hospital – which equates to almost 60 home help hours.

“It’s easy to see how this crisis could be addressed but the fact that more than 6,000 people are on waiting lists for home help hours shows clearly how strained the service has become,” she said.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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