Staff shortages may explain fall in home care: MLA

A 'surprising' decline in the number of people being cared for in their own homes, despite a long-standing policy to increase this type of care, may be explained by a shortage of staff, former health minister Jim Wells has said.
The number of people being cared for in their own homes in Northern Ireland has decreased by 3%, Department of Health figures showThe number of people being cared for in their own homes in Northern Ireland has decreased by 3%, Department of Health figures show
The number of people being cared for in their own homes in Northern Ireland has decreased by 3%, Department of Health figures show

The Department of Health has published the results of a survey of domiciliary care services for adults in Northern Ireland, which showed a 3% decrease in the number of people cared for in their own homes compared to the previous year’s survey.

It has been a long-standing aim of the health service here to provide more care at home and less in hospitals, dating back to an independent review carried out in 2011 by the former Health and Social Care Board chief executive John Compton. The review suggested a policy known as ‘Transforming Your Care’.

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However, the latest figures show that there had actually been a decrease of 3% in the number of hours of domiciliary care delivered during a set survey period in September this year, when compared with the same period in 2016.

DUP MLA Mr Wells believes staffing shortages could explain the decrease – and warned that these shortages aren’t factored into the health reform plans.

“It is surprising,” Mr Wells said. “It may show that because of the labour market tightening, it is getting harder to get people to do this type of work. There aren’t enough people to physically do the work.”

Mr Wells pointed to a warning sounded last month by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), Northern Ireland’s health regulator, that there is a serious nursing shortage across hospital and community services.

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He said: “There aren’t enough staff to deliver the demand at the moment. RQIA said last month that we are at a crisis in nursing.

“The concern would be that, with both the Compton review and Bengoa (a more recent review of health services), it is predicated on there being the people on the ground to deliver.”

The News Letter has asked both the Department of Health and the Health and Social Care Board for comment, but had yet to receive a reply at the time of writing.