Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Health the level of services he expects in 2012 for elderly patients in our communities with the closure of nursing home beds, reductions in home help hours and without any increase in home support levels across the country but particularly in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8863/12]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Government policy is to support older people to live at home and in their communities for as long as possible. This is achieved through a range of community based services such as mainstream home help, enhanced home care packages, or through various other supports such as meals-on-wheels and respite or day care.

The central challenge facing the health service this year is to use the reduced level of resources available to meet as best it can the increasing needs of older people for health and personal social services. This means we have to prioritise those in greatest need and accelerate reform of our services.

In the case of public nursing homes, the recently approved HSE service plan for 2012 makes it clear that a business as usual approach will result in the closure of a minimum of 555 beds because of reductions in staffing and issues like the age and structure of such units. Accordingly, we need a more proactive approach to the provision of public nursing homes, which seeks to protect the viability of as many units as possible within the funding and staffing resources available.

The HSE is already carrying out a viability review of all its long-stay nursing homes. The review is focusing on a number of areas including the location of units, demographic pressures and the ability to meet HIQA standards on environmental structures and staffing.

In the case of community services, there will be no reduction this year in the level of home care packages being provided. About 10,870 people are expected to receive this important service in 2012, as was the case last year, including about 4,800 new clients.

It is not possible to prioritise every service and there will be a reduction of about 4.5% in the total number of home help hours provided nationally. However, the HSE will still provide about 10.7 million home help hours this year to about 50,000 people. By ensuring the available hours are used to better effect, the number of people benefiting from home help services will fall by approximately 1.2%. We do not have the level of detail requested in the Deputy's specific question. I have asked the Health Service Executive to transfer the information to Deputy Pringle as soon as it collates it.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

A number of operational improvements are being implemented in order to deliver the most effective and best quality service possible within available resources. These include a new procurement framework for home care packages as well as new national home help guidelines.

While the national service plan has been finalised, regional and area plans are still being completed. As a result, I am unable to provide details at this time of planned services in Donegal. However, I have asked the HSE to let the Deputy have this information as soon as it is available.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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As we do not have the service plan for HSE west, we do not really know the impact bed closures will have in County Donegal.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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There will not be any good news in it anyway when it comes out.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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The HSE service plan flies in the face of the Minister's reply and the Government's stated policy. It shows in fact there is no policy in place. According to the 2012 service plan, there will be a reduction of 113,000 home-help hours in HSE west services for the elderly. Maintaining home care packages at the same level as last year will in fact result in a reduction because of the rising aging population. As fewer people will receive home help hours and with a reduction of up to 900 beds in community nursing homes, more pressure will be put on the community nursing system. These, along with cuts of 700 people in receipt of subvention and enhanced subvention, fly in the face of the Minister's reply.

With these serious cuts, how can the Minister expect to support elderly people to stay in their homes which is agreed to be the cheapest and most desirable form of treatment and care? How can such a policy be implemented when the Government has savaged the home help hours, made no increase in home care packages, closed nursing home beds and reduced subventions?

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Opposition does what Opposition does. I understand that perfectly and it is a legitimate position to take. However, if Deputy Pringle read the answer to his question, he would see it stated we will be dealing with an additional 4,800 people requiring home care packages this year.

Those involved in putting together the regional plan for HSE west have a clear focus. For the first time ever, we are beginning to see the coming together of various agencies on how to deal with older people. The notion that the only service available is long-stay care is wrong. There are all sorts of pieces in between on which we need to bring the agencies together, such as the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, to address supported and supervised living for older people.

The Deputy is not correct that 900 beds will be taken from the community nursing home system. As a matter of fact, having spoken to the four HSE regional directors of operations, RDOs, I understand the reduction will more than likely be less than 555. We are working to a clear plan on this.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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The HSE's 2012 national service plan states between a minimum of 7,089 to a maximum of 7,432 public beds will be closed. In the minimum range, the reduction in community nursing beds will be 900.

Is it acceptable elderly people in County Donegal receive home help of just 15 minutes a day? If we do not support home help or home care packages and community nursing beds are reduced, elderly people will be left on their own which I would contend is a form of elderly abuse.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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As I stated in my formal reply, we are going to have to do more with less. It is difficult to know how to do that with reductions such as these. We are going to have to seriously examine putting together a plan as to how we deal with our aging and elderly population. Up to this point, we did not have one. However, we are beginning to put it together. I agree with Deputy Pringle we cannot afford to leave a vulnerable group of people isolated and alone.