Madam, – I agree with the statements by the Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly at the MacGill Summer School (Home News, July 21st) regarding the care of the elderly.
We are one of the many families who have suffered what the Ombudsman described as “years of stress and crippling expense” because of the failure of the system to to address the issue fairly.
On July 1st last, I wrote to the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, on behalf of my elderly mother. I pointed out the injustice in the manner in which the State provides support for a considerable proportion of elderly people. The “fair deal” Nursing Homes Support Scheme – which has been a positive development in some aspects – puts elderly people being cared for in their own homes at a distinct financial disadvantage, compared to people who opt for nursing home care. It also supports the many private nursing homes, which were recently been built during the “development” frenzy .
My mother is a 93-year-old widow, who lives alone, with the support of 24-hour care, organised by her family and a team of professional carers.
She suffers from cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease and is not mobile. Her care situation at home is excellent and she has benefited greatly from being in familiar surroundings. We, her family, have supported and helped her to remain there for the past 11 years.
However, the cost of continuing to care for her at home has now become prohibitive.
Were she to be accepted in nursing home care, we could avail of the “fair deal” Nursing Homes Support Scheme. It is unfair that a comparable support scheme is not available to families who are supporting an aged parent who is in a position to continue living in their own home. It is also contrary to current social and medical best practice in the care of the elderly. My mother’s GP and the support team at St Vincent’s Hospital department of old age psychiatry have also advised that she is in the best possible situation at home.
The current circumstances force us to place our mother in a nursing home and deprive her of the familiar surroundings and care which she deserves in the last years of her life.
I have received neither an acknowledgment nor a reply from the Minister’s office.
If there are other families who are struggling as we are, please do not remain silent. Our parents’ generation built this Republic. Those who are still living should not suffer for it now.
– Yours, etc,