Caring for the aged - We need a new strategy

THE Health Service Executive’s cash problems have been well aired but until services are cut and someone is left to fend for themselves the debate remains academic.It is no longer academic for the older people who, as the HSE has admitted, will have to make do without the help of a home support worker.

The HSE’s own Performance Monitoring Report (PMR) for January shows that 186 fewer elderly people received home help packages than had been planned. Many thousands more had their services reduced.

Though the numbers define the story the isolation of the people involved is the real issue. The reality is that some elderly people who, with minimal support, could sustain independent lives, are now more vulnerable and alone. Some may no longer be able to live at home.