Northwest Dublin Inner City
ALONE “A plan of action is urgently needed to tackle nursing home waiting lists”
Dublin, 28th October ALONE has condemned the fifteen week waiting lists currently facing Fair Deal Scheme applicants.
Sean Moynihan, Chief Executive Officer of ALONE commented, “The problem is really spiralling out of control, older people are being left to in acute hospital beds or the responsibilities are being pushed back on families to care for them. The Government needs to step in with a contingency plan, last week Minister Varadkar alluded to the fact that the budget for this scheme has been used up for 2014, but this is simply not acceptable for the 2,100 older people on the waiting list”.
Moynihan continued, “There are no goals or targets in the health service to reduce the waiting list for nursing home beds. There is too much focus on private nursing homes and public nursing homes are being neglected. From our point of view, community services and as much the answer as nursing home care – with increased local supports more older people would be able to live independently within their community. Studies have proven that remaining with the community is the preferred option for many older people and it’s far more economically viable”.
ALONE believe that nursing homes are not always the answer, and strive to keep older people living within the community by providing suitable accommodation, home supports and social outlets. ALONE’s model of supportive housing in the community makes sense to the individual, community and the economy.