Lack of support for people requiring homecare is shameful, says Brendan Courtney  

Brendan Courtney and his mother Nuala. Five years ago he made a documentary highlighting the obstacles families face in trying to fund homecare.

The lack of support for people requiring homecare is shameful,  TV presenter and former member of the Sláintecare advisory panel Brendan Courtney has said. 

His comments come as it emerged that recruitment is still continuing for a Home Support pilot scheme, despite the fact that funding was announced for the project in October 2019.

The scheme was only launched in August, with a start date of November for assessments, but at least one of the four regions involved did not begin its assessments until January, HSE data shows. 

Mr Courtney, who five years ago made a documentary We Have to Talk About Dad highlighting the obstacles families face in trying to fund homecare, said the scheme has been under discussion for at least five years. "There is no strategy built-in for recruitment. The funding is there, which is what the first fight was. The second fight is a strategy for homecare and I don’t see any evidence of that,” he said.

The sector is not attractive to workers, he said and he called for a more creative approach to recruitment.

The 12-month Home Support pilot will include 920 clients nationally and is preparation for a long-expected statutory home care scheme similar to how the Fair Deal supports people who need nursing home care.

Bandon, Kinsale and Carrigaline under the HSE Cork and Kerry unit are offering the scheme. A spokeswoman said they will assess 230 clients including 170 new to homecare and review care for 60 people.

The spokesperson said they are aiming to rely on HSE workers for staffing, but said: “Any additional capacity requirements are met through existing HSE-approved private care agencies.” 

The second pilot is across Tuam, Athenry and Loughrea under the HSE healthcare west division. “Training and recruitment is ongoing and assessments commenced in January within Community Healthcare West,” a spokeswoman said. Any new referrals received since January are being included in the pilot along with a number of reviews, she said.

The third pilot in east Westmeath, under the HSE CHO 8 unit for Longford and Westmeath, also hopes to reach 230 people.

This started in November and will end on April 30 with six months for evaluation, a spokesman said.

“Acute and community home-support referrals continue to be received as per normal home support operational procedures. Any referrals received for the East Westmeath Pilot site will include the use of the InterRAI single assessment tool,” he said, referring to the assessment method used for the pilot.

The fourth project is under HSE CHO 7 region in Ballyfermot and Palmerstown in Dublin. Information on this pilot was not available, a spokeswoman said.

The homecare sector faces a growing recruitment crisis, with Minister of State for Older People Mary Butler highlighting West Cork as facing a particular staffing challenge to RTÉ recently.

Mr Courtney told the Irish Examiner: “My father died in 2017, after his documentary aired in January, fully believing because of the bit he did on telly while being in a wheelchair, he believed that this change would happen and it hasn’t happened.” 

On Wednesday his mother Nuala remained in hospital in Dublin, although she was medically discharged almost two weeks ago, due to the lack of carers to deliver the package. “It is shameful,” he said.

Home and Community Care Ireland  which represents homecare providers, said their members need to hire 3,000 staff.