Close to 600 on local home help waiting lists

There are almost 600 vulnerable older people in Offaly and Laois on a HSE waiting list for urgently needed home help, new figures have revealed.

The number of people in Offaly and Laois (578) waiting for the vital support service is the third highest in the country after Galway (674) and Dublin North (623).

In the neighbouring HSE region of Westmeath Longford, there are only 19 people waiting for home care supports, while in Meath/Louth, the other region in its Community Health Organisation grouping, there are 65 people on the waiting list.

There are six HSE regions (Kerry, North Cork, North Lee, Carlow/Kilkenny, South Tipperary and Dublin South East) where there is no waiting list for these services.

Speaking this week, Deputy Carol Nolan said that many of those local people who on the waiting list for home help “ are elderly carers experiencing ill health themselves while struggling to provide care to their loved ones”.

“It is unacceptable that many of these carers are left to struggle in this task alone. Elderly carers must be prioritised for support in the form of home help hours and home care packages. There is currently a chronic shortage of home help hours and home care packages in Laois/Offaly”

The Independent TD added that she had repeatedly raised the problem in the Dáil, but the waiting list remains one of the longest in the country despite the relatively small populations of the two counties.

Responding to a query from the Offaly Independent, the HSE issued this statement: “We are aware of the waiting list in Laois/Offaly which is out of sync with the other four counties in the Community Health Organisation and we are actively reviewing the situation”.