Hearty raises concerns of Home Care workers | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Hearty raises concerns of Home Care workers

At the monthly meeting of Newry & Mourne council Sinn Féin Councillor Terry Hearty raised the issue of Home Care workers with the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

Councillor Hearty said that he had serious concerns that new clients are not being passed on to the Southern Trust Home Care staff but instead clients are being passed on to private home care providers.

Hearty said, “Numerous Southern Trust Home Care staff have contacted me to raise concerns about this issue. Their clients are expressing concerns to them that private home care providers may not have enough time allocated to each client to meet their needs.

“Their concerns would appear to be backed up by research undertaken in England by Leonard Cheshire Disability which states the 15 minute visits to patients is on the rise. In addition research by the UK Homecare Association published last year suggested 87% of home visits in Northern Ireland lasted 30 minutes or less,” Hearty insisted.

“I think people would agree that the experience, dedication and high level training of the Southern Trust Home Care workers cannot be replaced. I have asked the council to arrange an urgent meeting with the Southern Trust to discuss this very serious issue,” he added.

Hearty received unanimous, cross-party support from other councillors in the Chamber who have also been lobbied on this issue by worried constituents.

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Posted by on Oct 18 2013. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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