Connacht Tribune
HSE staffing crisis sees home help money lying idle
Galway families caring for loved ones and desperate to avail of the HSE’s home help service have been told that while the money is there, the staff are not.
In fact, for the ‘CHO 2’ (Community Healthcare Organisation) area which covers Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, there were 45,000 unused home care hours in the first three months of this year which had been paid for by the HSE, but no staff were available to carry out the hours.
At the moment, one in every four people in the country waiting for home help are in the CHO 2 area.
Speaking in the Dáil last week, Minister of State at the Department of Health, Jim Daly, said there are “capacity issues” and repeated his assertion that the current system is not fit for purpose.
He was told by Roscommon-Galway TD Eugene Murphy that he has had at least twelve families into his constituency office in tears because they have been unable to get home help.
“What is going on in the CHO 2 area with home care is shocking and appalling. I do not believe it is a staff issue,” said Deputy Murphy.
Minister Daly said there were ‘capacity issues’ relating to staff in the area.
“The overall budget for home support services for people living in the CHO 2 catchment area increased in 2017 and 2018 and is now just over €43 million. This funding will deliver more than 1.9 million home support hours.
“During the first three months of this year, 430,832 hours were delivered against a target of 475,893 hours, which is 45,000 hours below target.
“Some parts of the country, including CHO 2, are experiencing capacity issues relating to the availability of home care staff.
“I have been advised by the HSE that CHO 2 is working towards increasing capacity and is committed to providing its targeted hours by year end. With that in mind, CHO 2 is increasing its monthly spend on home support services to ensure delivery of full year service plan targets.
“I can assure the Deputy that there are not enough resources but the particular issue he is experiencing in his area is a capacity issue involving staff availability. It is the same in my area of west Cork, as I mentioned. There are 45,000 hours which have been paid for but not used in CHO 2, which is a management issue for the HSE to address. It has assured me that it will up the ante in that regard and spend every euro it has been given on home help by year end.
At the end of March, of the 6,458 older people waiting for home support nationwide, 1,482 were in the CHO 2 area.
Minister Daly told the Dáil: “I have stood over my commitment to bring about the scheme for home care to mirror the fair deal scheme and ensure people will be guaranteed access to the home care they require under statute, in a similar manner to the fair deal scheme, which we developed and which has grown and been committed to.
“Nobody has to wait for more four weeks under the commitments in the fair deal scheme. It is guaranteed by statute that everybody who wants to avail of it will get it and will not have to wait any more than four weeks.
“I want a similar scheme to be established to allow people to continue to live in their homes. I have put a timeline of two to three years on that and we are about nine or ten months into the process. It will take another two years to bring about the scheme and ensure it is delivered by statute and properly funded.
“The issues include the availability of staff to fill posts and their terms and conditions.
“I have said on the record that the current system is not fit for purpose and that is why I want to design a properly funded, equitable, fair, transparent and efficient service for home help,” said Minister Daly.
The home help service provides support to people who need assistance with everyday tasks because of illness or disability. The service is aimed at helping people in their own home and to avoid going in to long-term care.
Home helps provide assistance with washing, taking a shower, assistance with changing position, oral hygiene, or help at mealtimes. Domestic duties include lighting a fire or bringing in fuel if there is no alternative heating source, or essential cleaning of the person’s personal space.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
