Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two matters, the first of which relates to the Government's commitment in the confidence and supply agreement to reinvest in the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, in order that patients who have been waiting too long for hospital treatment will have a chance to come off the waiting list. Will the Leader confirm whether this measure is being progressed and the NTPF will be set up urgently to address the ever increasing waiting lists? The figures for May show that they had reached a new high, with 74,000 patients waiting for day case treatment, an increase of more than 45% in two years. The former Minister set a 15-month target to the end of 2015, but more than 5,300 patients have been waiting longer for treatment. A further 5,691 have been waiting for between one year and 15 months. Outpatient figures are also continuing to rise, with 415,000 waiting for treatment. Some 62,000 patients have been waiting for longer than one year for an outpatient appointment, including 4,500 in children's hospitals, of whom more than 1,800 have been waiting for longer than 15 months. Overall, 30,000 patients have been waiting for longer than 15 months for an outpatient appointment. In my constituency 857 patients have been waiting for longer than one year at St. James's Hospital for an outpatient appointment, an increase of 588 since December. In Crumlin's children's hospital nearly 2,000 children have been waiting for longer than one year for an outpatient consultation, a jump of almost 1,000 since last December. Some 236 of these children have been waiting for 18 months plus. In 2002 Fianna Fáil set up the NTPF. In 2010, the last year of its existence, 33,000 public patients were facilitated. In total, almost 200,000 public patients were treated under the fund. In 2010 the average waiting time for elective treatment was just 2.6 months, down from between two and five years in 2002. Furthermore, in 2010 the prices negotiated with the private hospital system were, on average, 8% lower than in the previous year.

The second matter I wish to raise relates to older people, loneliness and elder abuse in the community. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was 15 June. Many of us have friends, close relatives and neighbours who live alone and who, from time to time, feel isolation and loneliness to varying degrees. This leaves many of them vulnerable to abuse by those who, as the statistics have shown, are closest to them and meant to be their care givers. ALONE has reported that the abuse of older people is often carried out by a carer or family member on whom the older person relies.As a result the abused individual is often fearful of speaking out and losing their only source of contact, help or support.

Elder abuse, as has been defined, is a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship, where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person or violates their human or civil rights. Sixty-five years of age is taken as a point at which abuse may be considered elder abuse. Elder abuse can manifest itself in many forms. It can be physical, emotional, financial or neglect. The World Health Organization identifies social isolation as a risk factor in elder abuse. As people's support networks narrow and they become more reliant on individuals, the risk of elder abuse heightens.

If one suspects that an older person may be in need of help or suffering from abuse one may contact their GP, the Garda, public health nurse or HSE care worker. In our communities it is imperative that centres for caring for the elderly, from active retirement facilities to more hands-on centres for Alzheimer's or more serious impairment issues, are funded and supported by the Government to ensure that this sense of loneliness and anxiety is not felt by a huge proportion of our citizens as it is today. I would like to see an increase in hours allocated for the home help care packages and the introduction of some type of scheme, intimated by Senator Colette Kelleher whereby elderly people are supported to stay in their homes rather than go into a nursing home which, in many circumstances, can be traumatising for the individual as a massive change in their life.

In light of more recent developments and irregularities in Console, in particular, I ask the Government not to leave this gap in funding to non-governmental organisations. The Government must act now to properly fund and progress facilities and supports for our elderly.