'Granny dumping' is not a symptom of heartless families, but of the lack of social support for carers

State policy has effectively encouraged family carers in crisis to present to hospital toaccess rapid home-care packages or respite beds, writes Sinead McGarry

Gone are the days when the local public home help services were valued by the State, providing true ‘person-centred’ care before the term was popular'.

Like all professionals, social workers have their pet hates.

One is the use of the label ‘Granny dumping’ to describe the behaviour of families who bring a relative to hospital and when advised the person does not require admission, decline to bring them home.