HSE report details institutional living conditions
Though the content of the Time To Move On From Congregated Settings report has been reported previously, the published account contains final figures on costing of moving people out of institutions and into the wider community.
The report finds that, notwithstanding the commitment of staff and management, these are people who live apart from any community and from families. Many experience live in conditions where they lack basic privacy and dignity. Most have multiple disabilities and needs.
The report said: “Sometimes, people who have never been involved in supporting people with complex needs in a small setting within a community find it difficult to envisage such a scenario.
“Due to the low levels of staffing and the need to ensure that basic health and safety issues are addressed, some of the current provision tends to be very traditional in its approach. Investing in staff and up-skilling staff will be necessary to ensure that when people move out of larger settings into community-based settings the culture of the congregated setting does not transfer to the new model of service.”
The figure of 4,000 is based on the 2008 Census and relates to congregated settings, where they live with 10 or more people. It finds that community living is no more expensive than institutional care once the comparison is made on the basis of comparable needs and comparable quality of care.
Accommodation will primarily be in ordinary houses and made available for local (public or private) housing stock.
Christy Lynch, head of Kare, founded in 1967 by parents and friends of children with an intellectual disability, wrote the report and said implementation is under way.
“There is a seven-year implementation timeframe and the report suggests a strategy of how this could be done. Every service provider is being asked to put a plan together and there is a national oversight body.”
Mr Lynch said €2 million had been put up this year to do this and it was hoped this would get some projects up and running by the end of the year.