Rose Conway-Walsh urges urgent action on Mayo home help waiting lists
Rose Conway-Walsh raised urgent concerns about home help provision in Mayo, saying 265 homes are waiting for home help and urging action to reduce waiting lists. She backed Home and Community Care Ireland's calls for targeted funding, block booking and a waiting list task force to tackle black spot areas.
Waiting list in Mayo
There are 265 homes waiting for home help in Mayo. The speaker said people who are deemed to need home help to be able to stay in their own homes currently do not have it.
Requests from Home and Community Care Ireland
Home and Community Care Ireland asked for waiting lists to be treated as a political issue rather than solely an HSE operational matter, and requested a waiting list task force, targeted funding for black spot areas and block booking of home care hours. The speaker said she would advocate for these measures and highlighted retention and recruitment as additional priorities.
HSE engagement and responsibility
The speaker named Mr O'Donnell as responsible for the area and said she has met with the HSE to review waiting lists for each area. She said she is engaging directly with the HSE and working with officials in the Department to bring those lists down.
Funding and focus for this year
The speaker noted that additional funding has been provided this year for home care hours and said the main focus of that funding should be to address areas with waiting lists and reduce unmet need.
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I want to raise with you the issue of home help and particularly the issue of home help in Mayo. There are 265 homes that are waiting for home help. There are people who are deemed to need home help to be able to stay in their own home but they don't have it. The Home and Community Care Ireland are asking for two things which I absolutely would advocate for. They are saying that waiting lists are too often treated as a HSE operational issue, not a political issue like children's assessment of need, outpatient appointments or A&E trolleys. That must change in relation to home help. The other thing they want to see is a waiting list task force targeted funding for the black spot areas and block booking home care hours. This has to be done as well as retention and recruitment. Mr O'Donnell is responsible for that area. Mr O'Donnell, I have met with the HSE already. I have met with the HSE in terms of looking at the waiting list for each area. I want those lists brought down. We are given additional funding this year in terms of home care hours. Furthermore, in terms of the waiting list, the waiting list. For me, it is about engaging directly with the HSE, looking at measures and the main focus in terms of additional funding this year is to deal with the areas where we have a waiting list, I want them brought down. I am actively working on that directly with the HSE myself, along with the officials in the Department. Thank you. Deputy Deputy Deputy Deputy Secretary.
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