Editorial – Home help cuts a false economy

AS hundreds of home help care workers, supporters, trade unions and political representatives march on Dail Eireann to demand the Government and HSE reverse the cuts to home help hours, it begs the question yet again – what is a false economy? The people who have home help are in a position where they can have a much better quality of life with minimal cost to the taxpayer. Small things, which most of us take for granted but which are impossible for people with reduced mobility, are the very things that are being taken away.

The difference between being able to stay in the home which the elderly or infirm have loved all their lives and going into care could be as little as being able to wash the dishes.
Cuts to an already sparse home-help service will leave many clients in a position where they have no choice but to go into institutionalised care. And it is well known that the cost of paying for a person in nursing home care runs to thousands each month.
Compare that to the €14 per hour it costs to have a home help come in and make a house livable.  With clients getting between ten and twelve hours home-help a week, it’s not rocket science to choose the most cost-effective solution.
Already at the start of this year, 500,000 hours were taken out of the home-help system, which has huge ramifications for both the clients and the home-helps who were on a part-time footing already.
And that’s just the economics. Personal security and the knowledge that someone will be calling during the day is an integral part of the home-help system. The friendly housekeepers bring much more than a clean sweep.
They bring company, conversation and human contact to people who may be otherwise isolated and alone.