August 21, 2010
By PAMELA DUNCAN
NEITHER THE Department of Health nor the HSE knows how many unregulated private home help companies are operating in the State.
This is despite warnings from charities representing the elderly which say another Leas Cross could be happening within elderly people’s homes but a lack of regulation means there is no way to know.
Dermot Kirwan of Friends of the Elderly says in recent years there has been a proliferation of home help companies as well as smaller operations providing services as “nixers” within the community. These provide services for the elderly in their own homes.
He said the influx of private companies offering this service mean the elderly are being put in a “very vulnerable” situation. “My worry is there’s going to be another Leas Cross behind closed doors somewhere.
“All home carers ought to be registered and regulated and Hiqa [Health Information and Quality Authority] standards should be extended and the resources found so there can be random checks on these organisations,” he said.
Sue Cogan, sales and marketing manager of Comfort Keepers, a private company that provides home-help care both for the HSE and to private individuals, said when the company entered the market five years ago, there were 10 to 15 private companies offering the service. She now estimates there are between 150 and 200 such companies in operation.
“There are no barriers to entry. I could set up a company tomorrow from the shed in my back garden,” she said.
Ms Cogan said that the scandal over Leas Cross had been brought to everyone’s attention because of the media spotlight. “But anyone can go into a nursing home and see what’s going on whereas you can’t go do that in someone’s home.”
She said that Comfort Keepers were self regulating, meeting the standards set down by the Home Care Association and carried out a Garda background check. Her firm and other companies would welcome regulation of the sector.
Eamon Timmins, head of advocacy and communications with Age Action Ireland said while there were plans to put guidelines in place, disreputable companies would simply choose to ignore them.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said regulation of the community based sector was being “actively pursued” following two recent reports, the Commission on Patient Safety in 2008 and the Law Reform Commission report on Legal Aspects of Carers in 2009, both of which recommended regulation of the sector.
A HSE spokeswoman said it did not have figures for the total number of private home help companies in operation in the State at this time but said these figures were being compiled.
SOURCE: The Irish Times
__________________________________________
Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources
No comments:
Post a Comment