‘Assurance needed that Welfare Cuts will not affect Care in the home’ – Brady | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

‘Assurance needed that Welfare Cuts will not affect Care in the home’ – Brady

Sinn Féin MLA Mickey Brady has said it is essential that any proposed closures to residential homes should come with assurance to patients that a high standard of care will be available in the community.

Brady, who is a member of the Assembly’s Health committee, said, “With the announcement by Health Minister Edwin Poots that 180 beds are to close, mainly in the care home sector, it is our job to ensure that a high standard of care will be available in the community.

“I asked the Minister of Health in terms of the current Welfare cuts being introduced, to give assurance that these cuts will not affect care in the home. If patient’s benefit allowances are cut, could the department afford to let patients stay at home without affecting their standard of living and their level of care being diminished?

“I asked the Minister directly about several care homes in the Newry area and the Minister informed me that no decisions had been made and indeed it could take up to several years for any of the homes to be closed.

“In terms of Daisy Hill Hospital, the feedback I received was very positive. With their use of ‘telemedicine’ – the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical health status, Daisy Hill was described as the most innovative in Britain and Ireland.

Brady added, “It means that a specialist in Craigavon can do a diagnosis of a patient in Daisy Hill. People should concentrate on the positives when we have such state of the art equipment being used on a daily basis which is enhancing the services provided by Daisy Hill.”

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Posted by on Mar 26 2013. Filed under Politics. 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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