81 year old stroke victim refused home care help
The angry son of an 81-year-old stroke victim who is being forced to remain in hospital after being unable to secure a home care package describes the situation as 'disgraceful.'
Pat Galligan's elderly mother, Kitty, suffered a stroke in her home in Kilbeg outside Carlanstown earlier this year and spent a number of weeks undergoing rehabilitation. Despite getting the go-ahead to return home she is still waiting in a step-down facility because of insufficient funding for home help care.
In the aftermath of the stroke, Kitty was rushed by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital before undergoing a procedure to remove blockages in her brain and neck in Beaumont Hospital and finally moved to the stroke unit in Dundalk Hospital.
When the family was advised that Kitty could go home they applied through the HSE Home Care Package for home help assistance and were granted 5.5 hours a week which following an appeal was increased to 7.5 hours. They have now been informed there is an embargo on hiring any home care staff so even though the hours have been approved the HSE cannot authorise anyone to fulfil them.
Kitty was given the all-clear to go home but remains in hospital in Dundalk
Kitty lives with Pat and his wife who both work full-time and if she were to return home now could be alone for between 12 and 14 hours per day according to her concerned son.
"Her mobility is poor, the stroke caused the loss of feeling down her left side. Besides the need to assist her with washing and dressing she has a high risk of falling. She fell a few times when she was in the hospital when she was in full-time care. If she falls at home, I could be gone in the morning and I might not be home until six or eight in the evening, she could be lying on the floor all day. Once you get a stroke you are susceptible to get another one,"
"She has come on great. She had no feeling down her left-hand side, no feeling in her arm and leg but it's starting to improve in places. She also suffers from Post Stroke Syndrome where she gets very tired.
"We have been told that if we bring her home now, we are not going to get homecare even in the future because once she is discharged from the hospital, the HSE's duty of care is finished. She is sitting in a step-down ward blocking a bed, ready to come home but no home care package in place. The occupational therapist has said that she would thrive better in her own environment."
Figures released in April by the HSE showed that 6,238 people were waiting for funding for a home support service nationally and 164 people waiting on homecare packages in Meath. The list comprises patients who have been assessed and approved for home support, but cannot be facilitated as funding is not immediately available.
Kitty Galligan with her granddaughter Shauna Tully
"According to the HSE Home Care Booklet if they have granted hours and they don't have the staff to facilitate them it can be outsourced to another service provider whom they approve. When we asked about this they said they don't do that anymore," comments Pat.
"It costs the State €5,992 a week to keep a patient in the hospital yet the average weekly cost for home help is €165 per person. It doesn't make any sense. That bed could be going to someone who really needs it," he adds.
An independent woman throughout her life, restricted mobility is causing much distress to the once active Kilbeg woman.
"She's very frustrated. All she can do at the moment is make a cup of tea, put on a slice of toast or heat something in the microwave. For a woman that loved her baking and cooking, that has been very tough to adjust to. She was out every day in her own car visiting friends and going to bingo right up until the day she had the stroke. Now she's stuck in a hospital bed. She just wants to come home.
"We are left in limbo. She has worked hard all her life and this is the treatment our so-called health system is offering her. It is not fair, she deserves better."
The HSE has been contacted for comment.