550 Home Care Packages this winter announced as 'positive move'

Home Instead Senior Care, one of Ireland’s largest home care providers, has today welcomed the announcement by the Health Service Executive (HSE) of an additional 550 home care packages this winter. A spokesperson for Home Instead has called the announcement a “positive move” towards addressing the ongoing trolley crisis.

Speaking about the HSE announcement, Tony O’Donovan, Director of Home Instead Senior Care, said: “As a home care provider operating nationwide, we are concerned about delayed hospital discharges, which will inevitably be made worse as the winter progresses.”

Mr O'Donovan said:“Winter can be a very challenging season for older people and their families, whether in or out of hospital. It’s also a period that puts hospitals under significant pressure. The additional 550 home care packages announced by the HSE will make a difference to older people who prefer to be at home, but otherwise would be forced to stay in hospital due to lack of home care options."

Home Instead Senior Care, an approved provider to the HSE which employs more than 4,000 carers across the country and has been providing non-medical home care services to elderly people in Ireland since 2005, says that the move will not just free up hospital resources, but will also have a positive impact on the lives of older people and their families.