The provision of home care should be regulated by the HSE, a company which provides non-medical services to elderly people said today
Home Instead Senior Care's comments come following the publication today of a new report into Ireland’s home care market.
Commissioned by the Irish Private Home Care Association (ICPHA), the report found a lack of national standards governing the delivery of home help and other home care services to thousands of older people across the State.
It also revealed that care in the private sector is 29 per cent cheaper than the public sector as the hourly cost of home care in the public sector is €29.44, compared to €21.00 charged by private home care providers.
According to the ICPHA, draft national quality guidelines for home care support services were developed for the HSE in 2008. However, they were never implemented.
Speaking about the research findings, Ed Murphy, chief executive of the ICPHA and of Home Instead Senior Care said: “Home Instead Senior Care is calling on the HSE to scale up its partnership with private players in the home care market.
"Not only are private home care companies cheaper, they provide quality care and adhere to set of standards unlike other market players”.