Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

444. To ask the Minister for Health the role his Department plays in the implementation of the objectives of the National Positive Ageing Strategy; and if he will provide in tabular form the progress made in regard to each individual area for action that is the responsibility of his Department or agency under the remit of his Department. [4637/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The 2011-2016 Programme for Government committed to completing and implementing the National Positive Ageing Strategy (NPAS) so that older people are recognised, supported and enabled to live independent full lives. In our statement of Health priorities for 2015, the Minister for Health and I have reiterated our commitment to implementing the Strategy.

The National Positive Ageing Strategy published in 2013 provides a vision for an age-friendly society and includes four National Goals and underpinning Objectives to provide direction on the issues that need to be addressed to promote positive ageing. The Cabinet Committee on Social Policy, chaired by the Taoiseach, will oversee the implementation of the Strategy. As Minister of State with responsibility for older people, I will drive implementation at political level. As the Strategy is a cross-Departmental one, my Department has an overall coordinating and collating role and a more direct role for the health-related objectives.

The Objectives included in the Strategy are quite high level and must be followed by the identification of concrete actions which can then be implemented and measured. My Department has had on-going contacts with all relevant Government Departments and agencies in this context, and while it has been possible to identify actions and activities which are very positive for older people, it has been harder to identify new actions which have been introduced in direct response to the Strategy. This is perhaps understandable given the resource limitations and competing priorities that apply across all Departments and Agencies, but my Department is committed to bringing renewed impetus to implementation if at all possible. We are considering how this might be achieved and I will keep the Deputy informed as this process develops.

It is important to point out the many initiatives are already in train which contribute to the Strategy's goals. For example, in the health sector, in the area of older people’s services and supports, the Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme will be completed shortly. The Single Assessment Tool, which will allow for a systematic assessment of need and allocation of services to older people, is being developed by the HSE, measures are being taken to ensure integrated care for older patients, and palliative care services are being improved. The Deputy will also be aware of the recent initiative which saw an additional €25 million provided to address the issue of delayed discharges in acute hospitals. The majority of these patients are older people, and these funds are being applied across both long term and short term residential services and at community level. As a result the waiting time for funding of approved patients under the Nursing Home Support scheme has fallen to eleven weeks now from fifteen weeks a short time ago.

A Healthy and Positive Ageing Outcomes Initiative (HPAOI) has also been established to implement the research objective of the National Positive Ageing Strategy. It is a joint initiative between the Department of Health, the HSE’s Health and Wellbeing Programme and the Atlantic Philanthropies and will run from October 2014 to December 2017, with a commitment to Department of Health funding for a further two years. The Initiative will monitor changes in older people’s health and wellbeing linked to the Goals and Objectives of the Positive Ageing Strategy. This will be done primarily through the development of positive ageing indicators to be published every two years. The HSE will also develop a physical activity communications campaign under the Initiative.