Hard to believe, but anyone can set up a homecare business and start selling services. The sector is entirely unregulated, despite the fact that it caters for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
That‘s why Myhomecare, one of the country’s leading providers, so strongly supports Government efforts to introduce homecare regulation.
The HSE-approved service provider serves more than 650 families nationwide and has an uncompromising commitment to quality care as its hallmark.
It is the only homecare provider in Ireland to be awarded the JCI International Gold Seal, a world class accreditation for dedication to patient safety and service excellence.
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Everything Myhomecare does is designed to support independent living. By combining expert homecare services with innovative assistive technology, they are enhancing safety, security and quality of life for clients right across the country, enabling people to live with dignity, safe in the knowledge that they are receiving the best possible person-centred care, independently in the right place, their home.
The standard bearer
Established in 2006 by Servisource Healthcare, who are part of the CPL Group, Myhomecare employs more than 350 people, all of whom believe that excellence in homecare should be the rule – not the exception. This is why Myhomecare so strongly supports the Government’s work to develop a regulatory framework for home support services.
Myhomecare’s own success is directly attributable to its staff, both in terms of recruiting the right candidates and supporting them throughout their careers.
Deirdre Doyle, Myhomecare’s associate director, is a case in point. A former manager in the hospitality sector who went on to open her own cafe, Doyle changed careers to retrain as a carer.
“I started from the ground up, as a homecare assistant out in the community, and just loved it. It gave me an awful lot of opportunity in my own life too because the flexibility meant I was in a position to care for my own mother when she was dying,” she explains.
“All of our wonderful home care team can give a similarly personal perspective of how home care has touched them and why they got into this industry. Good homecare comes from a personal place.”
Having risen through the ranks, Doyle now oversees frontline staff, including both homecare workers and nurses providing nursing care in the community for children with complex needs.
A huge part of her role is ensuring staff feel supported and cared for too.
“They are out there in the community caring for some of the most vulnerable people in society with their families. Home care is emotional and the job itself can be difficult but it is also incredibly rewarding,” she says.
Top notch provision
Helping people to remain in their home without compromising on the level of care available to them is paramount.
“What everyone wants is for their family members to be at home for as long as they possibly can, and that’s what drive us,” says Doyle.
For that to happen, trust in those providing care in the home is essential. “You don’t want your parents to be at home receiving mediocre care,” she says. “You want them having the best quality care they can get. I think that is everybody’s human right.”
While the majority of the care it provides comes via the HSE’s older person services, Myhomecare also provides support to children and adults living with disabilities.
It operates from five locations across Ireland, providing a nationwide service since 2021. Servisource Healthcare recently expanded into the UK, acquiring a service provider there called Care 24-7.
Two years ago Myhomecare launched The Care Academy, a suite of training programmes designed to keep the company at the leading edge of service provision, particularly in relation to dementia care, a growing challenge in an ageing population.
“We find that by investing in our people we get the benefits back tenfold in terms of positive reviews, happy customers and long-term care packages,” explains Servisource chief executive Declan Murphy. “That’s important because people want continuity of care.”
It’s why the company continues to innovate, including partnering with Isaac Care, an assistive technology platform that provides remote health monitoring underpinned by a network of dedicated personal carers.
The service includes a fall alarm pendant, which integrates with a family caring app, sending notifications of falls and SOS alerts to family or friends, as well as to a fully staffed, round-the-clock call centre. Most recently the innovative technology has released a multifunctional showerproof watch alarm with all the functions of the Isaac fall alarm, but in a discrete wearable watch.
Speeding up recovery
Isaac Care had a transformational impact on Murphy’s own father, 86, when he was hospitalised after a fall last December.
Having recovered in hospital he was transferred to a transitional care facility to get his strength back, before being discharged home.
“Since he came home we’ve had a carer assigned to him and have given him the ISAAC platform to measure all his vital statistics, including his heart rate and his step count. He’s currently doing between 8,000 and 10,000 steps a day,” says Murphy.
“I have nine siblings including two brothers in America and one in the UK and through the Circles of Care App we can all log on to the app at any time and share appropriate information. We get peace of mind knowing that he gets his exercise in and that he’s mobile in the morning, for example. While a carer comes in for an hour in the morning and evening.”
His father’s recovery is all the more remarkable given that, at the time of admission, the hospital told the family he had 36 hours to live. “Instead, he is 100 per cent recovered and flying around the place, literally – right now he’s in Spain,” he smiles.
Specialist dementia care
For those whose parents are showing signs of forgetfulness or dementia, remote monitoring systems are even more reassuring.
“We can put a GPS geofence around the individual’s house and map out the routes they can safely go during the day, whether it’s the post office or the pub,” he explains.
“If someone steps out of those geofenced areas we set alerts on the system. Should they have a fall, with SIM card-powered two-way communication we can check in an instant to ensure they are okay or need emergency care. It’s a blended model of care that has been absolutely life changing for some clients, the peace of mind it has brought to their families has been incredible.”
Entitled to quality care
All older people are entitled to HSE homecare, which is not means-tested but is based entirely on their physical requirements.
Murphy too is supportive of Government regulation, to ensure the best care possible is provided to everyone.
“Unfortunately, as things stand, anyone can go out and set up a business in the homecare sector. While you wouldn’t qualify for HSE work, there is nothing to stop you delivering care. It’s completely unregulated,” he affirms.
While service providers with HSE contracts must subscribe to a voluntary code, there is no statutory obligation to comply, he points out. All of this is a serious concern, given how vulnerable service users are.
“You really want to know that the company looking after your Mum or Dad,” says Murphy, “is as invested in quality care and patient safety as you are.”
