Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has raised the issue of ongoing delays for the approval of Home Care Packages saying the overall health system is crumbling.
The Fianna Fail TD says many patients awaiting approval for prolonged periods at present and the delays in receiving home care sanctioning is ever lengthening.
He added the delays in approving home care packages is causing delayed discharges from our University Hospital or causing further delays in our Community Hospitals which is adding to the crises in our overall bed capacity at present.
“The entire system is crumbling under the pressure and the Government are totally lacking in any joined up thinking in their dealing with the current crises in our health care,” he fumed.
Pat the Cope added there are many patients who want to get back to their own homes and are being delayed in hospitals due to delays in receiving home care packages, other patients are delayed in Letterkenny University Hospital because they cannot get in the Community Hospitals because of patients there unable to get home due to no home care help approval.
“The entire health care system is buckling under the shear pressure of numbers and lack of resources, staff and funding. What is more and more self-evident on a daily basis is the total lack of political leadership at the Department of Health, the ever present Government spin machine will never be a substitute for solving actual problems and this is one problem which the Government are failing to get a grasp of.
“The investment in home care packages is the most effective and responsive money the Department can invest in health care, the return is multifold and saves the state an entire fortune each year, as the equivalent care of each patient in a state hospital would be multiples of what is spent on home care packages.
“This is a no brainer and the Government’s failure to prioritise home care is greatly adding to the backlogs and log jams of patients in our public hospitals, and such backlogs have a knock on effect right back the line to the individual patients waiting on a trolley in Accident and Emergency but the Government fail to take action.”
Deputy Galagher said the Minister needs to immediately approve additional home help hours and free up additional Home Care packages, in order to deal with these undue delays at present.
“By doing this the Minister will eventually free up beds at our University Hospital, with a knock-on effect at our various Community Hospitals and patients wishing to be in their homes will be allowed to return there but at present the Ministers inaction is causing undue delays and capacity issues right across our hospitals,” he added.
