I believe that the Home Help Service is in tatters due to staff shortages.

“The service which is being administered by the HSE is in crisis with a lack of Home Care workers. This is leaving vulnerable people who have been assessed for Home Help Hours without a service”.

“It as now reached the stage that the elderly people who can remain living at home with a home care service are now bring forced into long term care in Nursing Homes”.

This situation is totally contradicting the Sláintecare strategy to keep people living in their own homes.

“We now have a farcical situation where the HSE are luring staff from the private Home Care service providers, even though the HSE are now relying on the private operators.

The kernel of the problem is that HSE management have been ignoring the fact that in order to attract home care workers, they need to make the job a career choice with a pay scale that matches the service being provided by these workers.

Secondly the HSE need to offer rates of pay to the private homecare service providers to ensure they can attract more workers into the service.

I have been contacted by many worried families who have a loved one assessed and approved for Home Help but there is no one available.

The HSE need to ensure that the funding allocated is used for its intended purpose and not having it lost in management costs.

The HSE need to act immediately to ensure that Home Care Work is an attractive career choice and that we provide the Home Care Support to vulnerable people to keep them living in their homes rather than sending them into Nursing Homes when there is a viable alternative”.