Making Ireland Fairer
Nursing home care near home
Judging a Country by How it Treats its Elderly
A country can be judged on how it takes care of its elderly. The elderly are a massive resource to be tapped into and supported. We need to ensure that our elderly are, after a lifetime of giving, themselves given the care, respect and dignity that is their due.
Unfortunately, in my capacity as Mary Upton TD's parliamentary adviser, I have uncovered some very shocking instances in which we are not cherishing our elderly. Over recent months I noticed a large number of telephone calls concerning nursing homes coming in. Typically, the calls would involve someone with a family member who had been sent to a nursing home outside of County Dublin. This meant, in many cases, that the elderly or long-term ill person who had been sent to a care home in Kildare or Wicklow no longer was able to receive regular visits from family and friends.
After much persistent questioning of the HSE over the course of many months, it finally emerged that the "Delayed Discharge Initiative" had been responsible for 598 elderly patients being moved to long term nursing home care outside of County Dublin, where they had resided.
We all understand that hospital beds are needed, but why free them up by exiling patients to places so far from home no one can visit them? Why not actually plan to have an adequate number of beds available in the localities where people live?
As your Senator, I will continue working on uncovering the statutory and legal implications of this barbaric Government practice. And I will use all possible means available to public representatives to ensure that when such moves are foisted upon the sick and vulnerable those involved understand that they are contravening Ireland's international human rights obligations in relation to the protection of the right of those vulnerable people to a private and family life. I would like you always to feel free to approach me with problems such as these and I promise I will do my utmost to make things better.
