Sir, – Your Editorial (December 12th) clearly states the problems in the care of the elderly sector. Yes, the HSE, faced with cuts in its budget has quickened the pace of privatisation, and the charge can be levelled at it that it is failing in its responsibility by contracting out one of their primary functions.
However, Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly gets to the nub of the matter when she states that “the provision of health services requires some genuine engagement with ordinary citizens”. We must all recognise our responsibilities towards our elderly as family members, as neighbours and as a community, but the Government must give us a lead.
Here are some interesting facts. There are thousands of elderly people in hospital wards and nursing homes who could be living at home if adequate, affordable home care support were there. 60 per cent of all home care support is non-medical. We have 240,000 young people aged between 18 and 25, most of them are in education, few are fully employed. There is a Fetac-recognised course called Practical Home Care Skills that can be taught in five days: it will qualify young people to look after the social/domestic needs of the elderly who live alone and need assistance.
Friends of the Elderly are campaigning to get Practical Home Care Needs put on the transition- year curriculum. Within a few years we could have a generation of young people who could care for the elderly in their community voluntarily or as back-up to the home care attendants. Let’s drop the name Home Care and call it Assisted Living and inspire our young people to be good citizens. – Yours, etc,