Councillor ‘at wits’ end’ trying to help families get home support

A NORTH Mayo councillor says that trying to get information from the HSE about extra home-support hours for a 100-year-old woman has left him at his wits’ end.

Speaking at the HSE Regional Health Forum West meeting, Fine Gael councillor John O’Hara explained that he had contacted the organisation on behalf of a constituent who was looking for extra home support for an older relative.

Cllr O’Hara demanded to know why people are not able to get the home support they need, and he criticised the lack of communication on the matter from the HSE.

“One lady was 100 years of age and her family wanted a bit of help, and I felt very bad that I wasn’t able to help and get an answer. People need an extra half hour or hour in the day and just cannot get it,” he said.

“As councillors we find it very hard to get in contact with somebody to query them [the HSE] on that. It is impossible. Every time I ring the number there is nobody there and every time they [families] look for home help hours they only get the minimum.

“I am getting numerous queries, and I cannot answer them. I am at my wits’ end… you’re sent from Billy to Jack and it’s not fair.

“There are a lot of families out there willing to look after their elderly but there is nobody to discuss it with. They are prepared to give so many hours each, but they are looking for a bit of help from the HSE – but there doesn’t seem to be anyone to talk to them. It is very disappointing,” he said.

Disappointed

IN response, Cllr O’Hara was informed that as of June 2023, the number of people in Mayo in receipt of home support stands at 1,935, with 57,584 home-support hours delivered in the county.

John Fitzmaurice, the Chief Officer with Community Healthcare West, said he was disappointed to hear that Cllr O’Hara was not able to get a response to calls he made and that he would look into it.

“There is no doubt that supply and demand don’t meet, and it is a challenge for us to be able to respond [to demand]. Currently, we have 140 people who are waiting on a new service and 137 waiting on additional hours,” Mr Fitzmaurice said.

“In regard to provision for additional hours, we have tried to balance that against the level of demand and the level of need to ensure we can provide the greatest amount of service to the greatest amount of people. That is always a challenge.

“We do employ a high number of staff in Mayo directly, and we have recruited an additional 17 home care support assistants in Mayo this year and we have a rolling campaign because there is a challenge in terms of recruitment and retention. There is no doubt about that,” he said.

Primary focus

MR Fitzmaurice added that the primary focus of Community Healthcare West is to keep older people in their own homes and to work with families to achieve this.

“One of the things we do when someone has been identified as needing home support, we do an introductory meeting and factor in the wider family and community supports which are available. I would like to think families are involved and engaged in that, because that is a core part of any response.

“Our primary focus is to support people to stay at home. Notwithstanding that, I take on board the challenges if calls are not being answered, and we will look at that and see if communications around it can be improved,” he concluded.