HSE €120m home care packages 'poor value for money'
Thursday November 26 2009
THE Health Service Executive is spending €120m a year on home care packages without getting best value for money or monitoring the quality of the service, a damning report will reveal today.
The Department of Health-commissioned report paints a chaotic picture of how the scheme -- which offers home support -- is handled by the HSE.
It follows the recent highly critical report from the National Economic and Social Forum which exposed how lack of regulations mean carers employed to look after people in their homes are not subject to any mandatory vetting or training.
Home care packages are delivered either by carers directly employed by the HSE or private companies and voluntary organisations who provide supports to elderly people. They also cater for those with a disability who might otherwise have to go into a nursing home.
Controls
The new report, seen by the Irish Independent, reveals that poor financial controls mean the cost of a home care package can vary from €128 in Co Donegal to €497.40 in Co Galway.
There is also a lack of consistency in the way the service is managed in various local health areas and no uniformity about eligibility or assessment criteria.
The access people have to home care packages also varies depending on where they live. Last year there were 4,161 recipients in Dublin north east compared to 2,467 in Cork and Kerry.
The report, carried out by PA Consulting, showed this variance is not confined to one area having an older age profile than another. For example, for every 1,000 people over the age of 65 in Co Meath there were 52 beneficiaries of home care last year compared with just eight in Co Wicklow.
The report found no evidence of a link between home care packages and reductions in A&E departments through freeing up beds.
The report found that the allocation of home care packages was not sufficiently targeted to support hospitals with emergency care pressures.
It also found lack of consistency in how various health offices procured private providers of the service which, the report said, reduced the HSE's ability to secure best value.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
Irish Independent
