Does this have to be the reality of growing old in Ireland?

My husband and I have lived in the United States for over 20 years due to unemployment in Ireland in the 1980s.

All of our families still reside in Ireland, including our 83 and 88-year-old mothers.

My mother-in-law is 83 and is suffering from dementia. She was in hospital in September from a fall and the CUH released her on condition that carers be set up to come into the home to check on her for 4-5 hours a day.

We applied for home help in May 2012 and it was denied.

This is a woman who forgets to eat, take her meds, bathe, and is an enormous fall risk. All the doctors know and are aware of this and they still sent her home.

We set up carers to come into the home at the cost of €20 per hour. We could only do this for a certain time as now we are unemployed. Our most recent bill was €900 for 12 days of care.

My mother-in-law cannot make a decision for herself even though the doctors all said they have to abide by the patient’s request and still they sent her home.

So now we are faced with stopping the carers due to lack of funds.

We have no other family members to share this cost; we do not qualify for the 41% tax refund as we do not work in Ireland, even though we have worked and lived there in the past. As of Nov 26, the carers will not be coming into the home and my mother-in-law will be left alone. She will forget to take her meds, forget to eat, forget to bathe. If the public health nurse comes in there is a huge chance that my mother-in-law will be on the floor after a fall. The public health nurse has advised everyone that this particular patient is a crisis patient but still nothing is being done.

Many others are in this same situation. Our parents lived and worked in Ireland for all of their lives. They have contributed to the system, they were raised that Ireland will take care of its aged population. However, this is definitely not the case.

My husband and I have been in Ireland twice each since September. We take separate trips as our children are in school here. It has taken a toll on us as a family and the worry about my mother-in-law is non-stop at every moment of the day.

Is this really the way the HSE treats its patients? I think this situation should be public knowledge so that people know the reality of growing old in Ireland.

Dorothy Murray (Hegarty)

Bridgeville

Pennsylvania

USA