A public consultation on home care services has been announced by Health Minister Simon Harris and Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Jim Daly.
The consultation is being carried out in order to help inform the development of a new statutory scheme and system of regulation for home care services.
Minister Harris said, “Unfortunately, as a country, the only statutory scheme we have in place at present to care for our elderly is the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, ‘a Fair Deal’. I am determined to change this and to establish a new statutory homecare scheme which is affordable and sustainable. We will also introduce a system of regulation for home care so that the public can be confident that the services provided are of a high standard. By doing this, we will help to ensure that people can continue to live with confidence, security and dignity in their own homes, for as long as possible”.
Minister Daly stated, “It is estimated that about 20% of the over 65 population receive some form of community-based support service annually from the State. I am committed to enabling more care in the community for older people and others with identified care needs. I would like to find out what people think about current home care services – what is working well and what needs to be improved. I also want to hear the public’s views on what the future scheme should look like. This will help us to design a home care system that better meets the needs of service users”.
The consultation paper is available online at http://health.gov.ie/consultations and the closing date for submissions is August 31, 2017.
